Paris Hilton vows to prove jail has changed her

By Michelle Nichols

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hotel heiress Paris Hilton has launched a media make-over days after her release from a three-week jail stint, vowing to shed her party-girl image and prove she is a changed person.

"I'm a good person. I'm a compassionate person. I have a big heart. I'm sincere, and they'll see," Hilton told People magazine in excerpts published on Wednesday from her first interview since getting out of jail Tuesday in Los Angeles.

Appearing later on CNN's "Larry King Live" show, the 26-year-old socialite said she felt bad that many of her former fellow inmates would end up back on the streets, and back in trouble, because they lack family or support systems.

"I want to help set up a place where these women can get themselves back on their feet ... kind of a transitional home," she said. "I know I can make a difference."

Hilton, who was punished for violating probation in a drunken-driving case, acknowledged she has long enjoyed the Hollywood party scene but added, "it's not going to be the mainstay of my life anymore."

"I've definitely matured and grown a lot from this experience," she told King. "I could be a more responsible role model."

Critics did not buy a word of it, and they faulted King for not asking any probing questions.

"It was such an obviously scripted performance and so at odds with everything that has ever been reported about Hilton," the Hollywood Reporter said in its Thursday edition.