Paris Hilton's night out in Hollywood with a bearded 'guru' last Saturday was staged by Punk'd star Ashton Kutcher for a new TV show, designed to exploit the media.

Hilton made headlines around the world when she stepped out with an orange-robed, grey-haired 'shaman' who proceeded to bless her and then encouraged her to donate a diamond necklace to a stranger.

However, as previously reported by Wenn, the 'guru' was actually an actor called Maxie Santillan Jr.

And it has now emerged the incident was a prank for Kutcher's new show Pop Fiction, which will feature 20 celebrities, including several superstars, who are all in on the joke.

Kutcher and his business partner Jason Goldberg produce the new programme, which highlights the gullibility of the paparazzi and the media and is set to premiere on U.s. network E! on Sunday.

Goldberg says, "We live in a culture that's driven by media and obsessed with celebrity, to the point where they don't have private lives anymore."

"Two people going out to eat turns into, 'They're engaged.' It's a feeding frenzy. It's dangerous and it's irresponsible in some cases.

"We're having fun, but we want to say to people, 'Can you really believe everything you read and see?'"