My bad? Hilton rehires publicist blamed for ‘misunderstanding’

Los Angeles – The many moods of Paris Hilton shifted again when the jail-bound socialite rehired the publicist she blamed for her 45-day sentence.

Elliot Mintz confirmed to The Associated Press on Tuesday that he is again representing the 26-year-old socialite, who was ordered to report to county jail by June 5 for violating the terms of her probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case.

Mintz, 62, wouldn’t elaborate on why he reunited with Hilton. The publicist, whose clients have included John Lennon and Bob Dylan, issued a statement Sunday night that he and Hilton had parted ways over an apparent “misunderstanding she received from me regarding the terms of her probation.”

In a court appearance Friday, Hilton told the judge Mintz informed her it was all right to drive on a suspended license for work obligations. Mintz also testified Hilton believed she was allowed to drive. The judge called Mintz’s testimony worthless.

Hilton – star of E! network’s reality show “The Simple Life” – has called the sentence unfair, and her fans have posted a petition on the Internet urging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to pardon her.

“I feel that I was treated unfairly and that the sentence is both cruel and unwarranted and I don’t deserve this,” Hilton told photographers assembled Saturday outside her home.

In an interview for the June issue of Harper’s Bazaar, Hilton says: “I get in more trouble just because of who I am. The cops do it all the time. They’ll just pull me over to hit on me.”

“It’s really annoying. They’re like, ‘What’s your phone number? Want to go to dinner?’ They won’t even give me a ticket. They just pull me over, and the paparazzi, of course, take a picture. All the time. I have so many cops’ business cards.”

The governor’s office hasn’t reviewed the petition but has received individual e-mails from constituents both for and against a gubernatorial pardon, Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said Tuesday.

The petition urges Schwarzenegger to pardon Hilton because she provides “beauty and excitement to (most of) our otherwise mundane lives.”