Nicole Camille Richie (born Nicole Camille Escovedo; September 21, 1981) is an American fashion designer, author, actress and television personality. Richie rose to prominence for her role in the Fox reality television series, The Simple Life, alongside her childhood best friend and fellow socialite Paris Hilton, which lasted five seasons. The Simple Life was a hit for the Fox network, premiering with 13 million viewers, and brought Richie and Hilton to international recognition. Richie's personal life attracted significant media attention during The Simple Life's five-year run and she was a constant fixture of tabloid journalism before and after her appearance.

Afterwards she turned her focus on other projects including charity work and environmental issues. Richie is married to musician Joel Madden and they have two children. Richie and Madden founded "The Richie Madden Children's Foundation" in 2010. Richie has starred as one of the three mentors on NBC's Fashion Star.

Nicole Richie was born in Berkeley, California, and has Afro-Mexican, Creole, and Spanish ancestry. Her biological father is Peter Michael Escovedo, a musician who played for a brief time with Lionel Richie, and her biological mother Karen was the executive assistant for Nicole's aunt, Sheila E. At the age of three, her parents agreed to let her move in with Lionel Richie and Brenda Harvey because they could not afford to provide for her financially. "My parents were friends with Lionel," she told People in 2003. "They trusted that they would be better able to provide for me." Initially, Lionel Richie became her guardian.

Richie was legally adopted by Lionel and Brenda when she was nine years old. Shortly after the adoption was formalized, Lionel's affair with another woman became public knowledge. Lionel and Brenda went through a bitter, public split. As a result, they indulged Nicole's every whim. "Their way of making me happy was to say, 'yes,' to everything I wanted, but I don't think a little girl should have that much freedom," said Richie in an interview with Vanity Fair. Following the divorce, Lionel remarried and had two more children: Myles (b. 1994) and Sofia (b. 1998). Richie has one godmother, Nancy Davis, daughter of Marvin Davis and mother of Brandon Davis. Quincy Jones said in a People magazine interview that he has "known Nicole Richie since she was a baby. She's a very smart girl".

Richie graduated from Montclair College Preparatory School in 1999 and then attended the University of Arizona alongside Kourtney Kardashian and Luke Walton, where she studied Arts and Media. Richie did not have a definitive study plan in Arizona, and eventually dropped out after two years and returned to California.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicole_Richie