Paris Hilton describes jail time as ‘traumatic’

Los Angeles – Being locked in a cell was a “traumatic experience” and something she never expected after driving with a suspended license, a subdued Paris Hilton told CNN’s Larry King on Wednesday.

Letters from fans and supporters from around the world, including U.S. soldiers in Iraq and people as far away as India, helped her get through the 23 days in lockup, Hilton said in her first broadcast interview since leaving jail Tuesday.

All of the letters were positive, she said, adding that reading them in her cell sometimes reduced her to tears.

“I’ve been through a lot,” said Hilton, her blond hair cascading across her forehead. “And it was a pretty traumatic experience, something that I really have grown from.”

She said that going to jail was the last thing she expected when Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer ordered her to his court in May for violating probation in an alcohol-related reckless-driving case.

“I was walking in there assuming I was just going to get community service,” Hilton said. “That’s what my lawyer said at the time. So when he sentenced me to that much time in jail it was shocking because that doesn’t happen, ever.”

Asked whether she thought she got a “raw deal,” she said yes. Still, she vowed never to drink and drive again.

She told King she doesn’t do illegal drugs or party too much.

“I just like to go out and have fun with my friends. I’m an Aquarius. We’re social people.”

But she said now she plans to cut back on the high life.

“I realized that there’s a lot more important things in my life. And there’s a lot more things to do. And I’m frankly sick of it.”

Designer Claiborne dies

New York – Fashion designer Liz Claiborne, whose styles became a cornerstone of career women’s wardrobes in the 1970s and 1980s, has died, the company she founded said Wednesday. She was 78.

Claiborne died Tuesday at the New York Presbyterian Hospital after suffering from cancer for a number of years, said Gwen Satterfield, personal assistant to Claiborne.

Claiborne founded Liz Claiborne Inc. in 1976 along with her husband Art Ortenberg and Leonard Boxer. Their goal was to create a collection of fashions aimed at the growing number of women entering the work force.

The new approach to dressing revolutionized the department store industry, which had only focused on stocking pants in one department and skirts in another.

The clothes became an instant hit, and the company went public in 1981. By 1985, Liz Claiborne Inc. was the first company founded by a woman to be listed in the Fortune 500, according to the company’s Web site. The company, whose brands now include Ellen Tracy, Dana Buchman and Juicy Couture, generated sales of almost $5 billion last year.

Liz Claiborne retired from the day-to-day operations in 1989.

Winfrey to open store

Chicago – She’s got a talk show, a book club and a magazine – and now Oprah Winfrey is opening her own store.

The store will be located kitty-cornered from Harpo Studios, where Winfrey’s talk show is taped, a spokeswoman for Harpo Productions Inc. said Wednesday.

Construction already is under way on the one-story, 4,500-square-foot store, the spokeswoman said.

No potential opening date or details on what the store is expected to sell were released. But Winfrey’s Web site does have a boutique where viewers can buy merchandise such as a beach tote with “O” logo trim for $26, a $10 coffee mug with “The Oprah Winfrey Show” written on the side, or a $24 basket made in South Africa.

Harpo Studios is located about a mile west of Chicago’s downtown.

Credit for time served

Los Angeles – Tom Sizemore’s 16-month prison sentence for violating probation in a drug case was dramatically reduced Tuesday.

Superior Court Judge Cynthia Rayvis gave the actor 213 days of credit for time he has already spent in jail and two live-in drug programs, leaving him with about nine months in state prison.

Sizemore, 45, will likely serve about 4 1/2 months of that, said Deputy District Attorney Sean Carney.

The judge ordered the sentence Monday after authorities said they discovered methamphetamine in the actor’s car and arrested him in Bakersfield last month. Sizemore was charged with seven drug-related counts.