Heavy/Getty/Netflix Paris Hilton, Mauricio Umansky
Paris Hilton called out her uncle, Mauricio Umansky, in a fiery social media post. On March 12, 2024, the socialite reacted to Umansky’s comments about her father, Rick, on his Netflix reality show “Buying Beverly Hills.”
Umansky is the estranged husband of “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Kyle Richards, whose sister is Kathy Hilton. Umansky used to work for his brother-in-law Rick’s company, Hilton & Hyland, before starting his own successful real estate brokerage firm, The Agency, in 2011. In an upcoming episode of “Buying Beverly Hills,” he shared a story about his experience.
But when Paris caught wind of Umansky’s negative comments about his past working relationship with her dad, she fired back. “My father is a consummate gentleman and has always taken the higher road,” she commented on a clip of a “Buying Beverly Hills” scene on Instagram. “He would never speak negatively about his family- especially in the press. Frankly we are all sick of him using the Hilton name every chance he gets to plug his lame show. It is enough already.”
“Buying Beverly Hills” stars Umansky and his daughters Farrah Aldjufrie and Alexia and Sophia Umansky. Its second season premieres March 22 on Netflix.
Mauricio Umansky Claimed He Got Screwed Over By Rick Hilton
In a sneak peek scene for “Buying Beverly Hills,” Umansky claimed his brother-in-law refused to promote him to a partner when he was his employee more than a decade ago.
“I think I got kind of [expletive] by Hilton & Hyland,” Umansky said during a chat with some of his Agency colleagues. “And when I say [expletive], you know, today I’m happy, But there was 100 agents at Hilton & Hyland. They did a billion dollars for the first time in a year. I was 19.6 percent of their production.”
“I went to Rick and I said, ‘I’d really like equity, and to be a partner.’ He went back and talked to Jeff [Hyland]. He got back to me and basically I was told no,” Umansky claimed.
Umansky then made the decision to leave Hilton’s luxury real estate firm and start his own business. At the time, he consulted with Richards to weigh the repercussions the move might have in regards to their relationship with her family. He said his wife was “100 percent supportive” of his decision.
“I am Rick’s brother-in-law, but unfortunately, it got sour, because it really affected the family,” Umansky said in a confessional. “Kyle more than anybody. Her family stopped speaking to her.”
Still, Umansky said he has no hard feelings about his experience working for the Hiltons. “I think Hilton & Hyland is an amazing company, and I would never be caught dead speaking poorly about them because I don’t think poorly about them,” he said.
Mauricio Umansky Previously Shared the Story in His Book ‘The Dealmaker’
GettyKathy and Rick Hilton; Kyle Richards and Mauricio Umansky
Umansky has talked about the family’s friction in the past. In his 2023 memoir, “The Dealmaker,” he went into detail about his decision to launch The Agency after leaving Hilton & Hyland in 2011. In his book, he alleged that after he told Hilton he wanted to be made a “full partner,” his brother-in-law told him, “No, we’re not doing that.”
Umansky claimed if the company had paid him what he “deserved,” and showed him “an inkling of professional love,” he would have stayed on, per Us Weekly. “In my opinion, Rick wasn’t going to change his mind, and he wasn’t prepared to pay me what I’d earned,” Umansky wrote. “For their part, they didn’t see it that way.”
Umansky claimed the Hiltons “cut all communication” with him and Richards. “[They] no longer invited us to Thanksgiving dinners or other holidays,” he wrote. “He and Kathy held tremendous anger toward us, which is not the way I choose to live my life.”
The family did eventually reconcile. In a 2019 interview with Inman, Umansky revealed that all was “good” between him and the Hiltons. “We’ve made up, we’re family,” he said. “The families have made up. We’ve been good for over a year. We were definitely in a fight for a while. And it was real. But the families have made up and it was fantastic. We’ve been good for solidly over a year.”
“At the end of the day, time heals everything. Eventually when you put family together for different events — Christmas, Thanksgiving, a birthday party — time eventually heals it,” he added.
In July 2023, Umansky and Richards announced their separation after 27 years of marriage.
READ NEXT: Kyle Richards & Mauricio Umansky’s Daughters Cry Over Their Split