Paris Hilton tries to ignore her critics.

The socialite has hit back at people who criticise her for her career path, or the image they have seen on shows like 'The Simple Life', and insisted while their comments were ''really hurtful'' in the past, she's now in a position where she finds them more funnier than painful.

She told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper's Stella magazine: ''If people want to be mean, that's their problem. It used to be really hurtful. I would call and cry to my mom all the time but now I just laugh.''

However, Paris insisted her fame has meant she has encountered some difficulties when it comes to friends and relationships, and claimed a lot of girls try to be her friend simply to ride her coattails and make a name for themselves.

She added: ''So many people have bad intentions, so many girls want to hang out [with me] to be someone.

''I weed those people out of my life. I call them hungry tigers.''

However, she credited the notion of people wanting to ''be'' here with making her businesses so successful.

She explained: ''[My fans want] to buy a piece of me. It's like a kind of Barbie American dream.

''I have that childlike quality so a lot of little girls especially [like me]. I've always been a kid at heart. I think I always will be.''