Speaking on the subject for the first time, socialite and hotel heiress Paris Hilton says she never thought the sex video she made three years ago with her ex-boyfriend ever would become public.

"I feel embarrassed and humiliated, especially because my parents and the people who love me have been hurt," Hilton, 22, said Monday in a statement to the Associated Press.

"I was in an intimate relationship and never, ever thought that these things would become public."

The video features Hilton with Shannen Doherty's off-again, on-again husband, Rick Salomon, 33, in a variety of X-rated, compromising positions. Doherty and Salomon split up after the tape was made but have since reconciled.

Salomon contends that the tape (which has been surfacing in snippets on the Internet) was stolen and that copies were made and circulated by an acquaintance without his permission or knowledge.

Last week, Salomon filed a $10 million slander suit against Hilton, her parents and publicist. The suit claims that Hilton, described in the legal paper as an "active participant" in making the video, has, along with her family, set about on a "cold, calculated and malicious campaign to portray Salomon as a rapist" in order to protect her image.

Salomon similarly filed a $10 million suit against the Seattle-based Marvad Corp., an Internet company that Saloman contends distributed footage from the video without obtaining the legal rights.

Marvad Corp, in turn, filed a $10 million breach-of-contract suit against Salomon's former roommate, Donald Thrasher of Los Angeles, claiming he misled the company into believing he owned the rights to the video.

After news of the tape had been made public earlier this month, Hilton's parents released the following statement: "The Hilton family is greatly saddened at how low human beings will stoop to exploit their daughter Paris, who is sweet-natured, for their own self-promotion, as well as profit motives. ... Anyone in any way involved in this video is guilty of criminal activity, and will be ... vigorously prosecuted."