Relive Conrad Hilton's Airplane 'Rageathon' With a Terrified Passenger

Last month, the FBI filed a formal complaint against Conrad Hilton, brother of Paris (and Nikki, although who cares about her?) and nephew of Kim and Kyle Richards, after Hilton went on a ten-hour rage spree on a long flight he took in 2014, complete with balled fists and a cry of “I will fucking own anyone on this flight; they are fucking peasants!” And since today is the little scamp’s 21st, GQ has conducted an important interview with another passenger on the flight, who described in detail the horrors visited upon the “proletariat” by the comely heir who was inexplicably sitting in business class with the peasants and not riding in his own private jet.

The interview, which author Amy Wallace conducted with life coach and fellow passenger Patricia Mitchell is harrowing. While I initially wrote that as joke—haha, rich kid tantrum, whatever—I just realized how awful it would be stuck on a plane with an angry person for 10 hours, without any recourse except to keep one’s mouth shut or jump out of the emergency exit without a parachute and hope the water landing would be soft. Because Conrad Hilton isn’t just every day terrible, he’s turrrrible.

Wallace listed each part of the official complaint in bold and then had Mitchell describe what happened at each point in the flight as Hilton’s treachery got worse and worse. Here’s an excerpt from early in the flight.

At about 5:20 p.m., five minutes after a late takeoff, Hilton leaves his seat, ignoring the illuminated “Fasten Seatbelt” sign, and heads to the rear galley of the main deck. [Note: For the rest of this story, everything in bold type comes from the criminal complaint.]

PATRICIA MITCHELL: It was during that bit when the stewards are up but nobody else should be. My ears were popping, and I was waiting for the drinks trolley, when suddenly, he’s coming down the aisle. I thought, “Whoa, that’s not normal.” He was dressed posh casual, expensive haircut. He looked like a polo player and walked with a sure-footed march, being loud. He said something like they had attacked him. I heard a lot of “fucks.” The staff were being really low key, but it was monstrous. Inhuman. I mean, really, it was.

As someone terrified of planes and of the belief that they’re only powered by the thoughts of the passengers, I would also be frightened to see someone get up after takeoff and start wandering around the cabin while swearing. I would also likely scream out “subdue him with an extinguisher,” and commend Mitchell for doing nothing of the sort. I also appreciate how well she describes Hilton’s clothes, which is a very important detail.

Here’s the zenith of Hilton’s epic meltdown:

When Hilton wakes up about an hour later, he approaches yet another flight attendant and says he’s “going to fucking kill” him three times. He grabs the man’s shirt and name badge saying, “I could get you all fired in five minutes. I know your boss!” He says, “My father will pay this out, he has done it before. Dad paid $300,000 last time.”

P.M.: What a waste of money.

At one point, Hilton says to the co-pilot, who’d come out from the flight deck in the hopes that his authority would subdue Hilton, “If you wanna square up to me, bro, then bring it on and I will fucking fight you.” Every time Hilton has another altercation with the crew, the captain is alerted via the intercom. Such alerts are continual throughout the flight, and no crewmembers are able to take their full mandated rest breaks. Finally, the co-pilot comes out from the flight deck to present Hilton with a final written warning. Hilton rips it up.

P.M.: God, he’s an asshole. But the British Airways crew was incredibly professional. Someone was always walking behind him, hands to the side, nothing threatening, looking down, not confrontational. And if we asked how things were, they were calm, smiling. It was really impressive. If you hadn’t had the staff doing exactly what they did, it could have got very nasty.

It’s great how restrained Mitchell is. She suggests that it “could have gotten nasty” as if a troubled kid under the influence (according to Hilton’s lawyer) calling people assholes, threatening murder and having to be restrained was “just a spot of bother.”

The full interview is here and it is definitely worth your time. Hilton has entered into a plea deal with the FBI and checked into rehab immediately after the flight. Hilton’s lawyer contends that the heir had just taken a sleeping pill and had a bad effect. Kind of like what happened to Janice Dickinson a few years back when she visited Finland’s Next Top Model and “took a glass of champagne and a sleeping pill” instead of “vitamin C.”