Paris Hilton Lands in Nazi Salute Furor, Insists She Was Dancing, Not Gesturing

Wonderwall, Monday, July 26, 2010, 11:17am (PDT)

By Kat Giantis

We've never expected very much from Paris Hilton. Like, say, following through on her post-jail promise to give up partying and dedicate herself to making the world a better place. Or avoiding pot-smoke-scented international incidents.

Truth is, the bar on her behavior is set low enough that her worryingly little-seen pooch Tinkerbell could limbo under it. But has she sunk to offensive new depths by making a Jesse James-approved gesture?

In a photo published Monday in the London Daily Mail, Paris is seen on a yacht in Saint-Tropez with a red cap on her head, her right arm raised in what could be construed as a Nazi-like salute and her left hand mimicking what may or may not be a Hitler moustache.

RELATED: Paris pics aplenty

So, is she about to land on the top of Mel Gibson's dating wish list? Not according to her rep, who insists the starlet, 29, was boogying, not being a bigot.

"Paris was dancing and having fun with her arm up in the air, as she always dances like that and was scratching [her] face when a photo was taken," the mouthpiece explains to the Daily Mail. "The hat was not a communist hat, it's a military-style hat from a club. Half of her family is Jewish and many of her friends are as well."

OK, we'll give her the benefit of the doubt, although this isn't the first time she's been accused of being racially insensitive. Back in 2004, Hilton was reportedly caught on tape using the N-word.

Paris, for her part, seems oblivious to the controversy and is continuing on with her extended European vacation aboard a borrowed luxury yacht, which she has boasted comes with its "own pool, hot tub, movie theatre, recording studio, spa/massage room [and] gym."

Hours after the picture emerged, she excitedly tweeted, "Just went scuba diving in the sea with my cousins. Loves it." She quickly added, "Off to do some afternoon yoga with the girls."

Paris could probably use some meditative time amid her debauchery-heavy, champagne-fueled getaway, which has apparently included a run-in with ex-boyfriend Doug Reinhardt.

According to the New York Post, she was annoyed to find her former flame at the same Saint-Tropez hot spot late last week, so after chugging copious amounts of bubbly and giving Doug the stink eye across the club, she made her move.

RELATED: Paris: I'm better off without Doug

"She asked the deejay to announce, 'Paris wants Doug Reinhardt to get out,'" a spy tells the paper. "He left 30 minutes later with his head down."

He wasn't the only one who was having trouble keeping his noggin aloft that night. Hilton was snapped looking pie-eyed as she flashed her underpants (yawn -- again) and got intimate with the floor of the club.

Security was spotted hoisting her up as she clutched a microphone in her hand (she was presumably pulling her signature move of aurally defiling the scene by belting out "Stars Are Blind").

But any hangover Paris may have suffered appeared to be short-lived. Over the weekend, she was seen quaffing alcohol poured directly into her mouth by a minion and whooping it up in a champagne shower (click through the pictures at left for, oh, let's just call 'em highlights).

"I love life and love living it to the fullest!" Hilton tweeted on Sunday. "You only live once! :)"

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