Heiress, 45, poses with a live python to recreate pop icon's wildest moment
- Oct 30, 2026
One famous heiress, 45, didn't settle for a rubber snake this Halloween.
She draped a live yellow python across her shoulders, one weighing an estimated 30 to 40 pounds, according to TODAY.
All to recreate one of the most famous moments in pop history.
Her caption gave the game away: "I'm a slave 4 U."
The star is Paris Hilton, and the costume is her longtime friend Britney Spears at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards.
Britney did it first, live on stage
Spears was 19 when she performed I'm a Slave 4 U at New York's Metropolitan Opera House in 2001.
She started the number in a cage with a live tiger and finished it with a live albino Burmese python named Banana on her shoulders, TODAY and Hola reported.
The look, by designers Kurt Swanson and Bart Mueller, has been copied ever since. Elle Fanning recreated it for Halloween in 2021, though she used a fake snake.
Hilton clearly knew what she was taking on.
I always had the utmost respect for Britney, but the fact that she performed at the VMAs with one of these around her neck is the most legendary thing that I've ever heard of.
Paris Hilton
She said it in a behind-the-scenes video posted on October 24, according to TODAY, as she walked down her hallway with Tango wrapped around her shoulders.
Just walking with the snake was hard enough, Hola reported, which gave her a whole new respect for Spears doing it live in front of an audience.
Every crystal, every butterfly
Hilton matched the outfit piece by piece. A rhinestone-covered green top, butterfly-print micro shorts in a blue and green ombré, and a bedazzled belt with shimmering rhinestone tassels.
The shorts came from designer L.O.C.A., Reality Tea reported. She added sheer blue and green drapes, rhinestone gloves, crystal body stickers and embellished over-the-knee boots.
Tango came courtesy of Paramount Reptilez, which she tagged in a second post: "#BehindTheSliving for my @BritneySpears 2001 @VMAs performance #Halloween costume."
"Britney is one of the most iconic artists of our generation…the music, fashion, and choreography remain legendary," Hilton said, per Reality Tea.
It isn't her first time as Britney, either. She has shared earlier Spears recreations from other music videos and performances, and capped this one with a third post: "Oops… I #Slayed it again."
Spears herself has not commented on the tribute.
With Halloween still to come, every other celebrity costume this weekend now has to beat a heiress in rhinestones wearing a live snake.
Good luck with that.
