Nicole Richie Reveals Her Early Email Address While Reminiscing with Paris Hilton About Their Favorite 2000s Accessory

Mar. 15, 2025

Nicole Richie, Paris Hilton carrying Sidekicks.Photo:Chris Polk/FilmMagic; Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Chris Polk/FilmMagic; Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

There are few things that invoke memories of the early 2000s like throwbacks toNicole RichieandParis Hilton’siconic friendship. The celebrity besties andSimple Lifestars were inseparable from each other … and, as they recalled in a TikTok forWMagazine, inseparable from their Sidekick cell phones.

In a clip fromW’s “Explore ASMR”series on YouTube, Hilton and Richie reflect on theirdecades-long friendshipand their mutual love of the T-Mobile cell phone that was a defining piece of the era.

“I do remember that we were one of the first people to have these because we were friends with — I’m forgetting his name, but he was my best friend,” Richie whispers into the microphone, holding up one of the handheld devices.

The Sidekick was unique in that the screen spun horizontally to display a full keyboard, giving the same satisfaction of a flip phone with a keyboard that was easier to type on. It included various messaging apps and games, too.

Nicole Richie with a Sidekick in 2004.Frazer Harrison/Getty

Frazer Harrison/Getty

Richie and Hilton weren’t the only celebrities obsessed with the innovative phone;Lindsay Lohan,Travis BarkerandKim Kardashianwere also frequently photographed with their Sidekicks in hand on the red carpet or out and about.

“Honestly these keyboards are probably easier than the keyboards now,” Richie reminisced.

In the clip, Richie shared that her very first Sidekick name wascinderella@skytel.com.

“It was very cool to have a Sidekick, and we used to just live on them,” she continued. “We would go to the T-Mobile parties and we would be pumped to get a new Sidekick.”

“They used to have the best parties,” Hilton chimed in. (“We still throw the best parties,” T-Mobile commented on the TikTok post.)

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“I would paint mine with Hard Candy nail polish and like glitter mine up,” Richie said.

Though Hilton admitted she was unsure if the vibrant makeup brand that earmarked the early 2000s was still around, the clip drew attention from the cosmetic brand. Thanks to a comment from the official Hard Candy TikTok account, it’s confirmed the brand’s products (colorful nail polishes topped with plastic rings) are still available to purchase atWalmart.

The first Sidekick phone debuted in 2002, with a color variation released the following year. T-Mobile attempted to revive thepopular phone in 2018, thoughsuspended salesin 2019.

source: people.com