Richie was born in Berkeley, California, and has English, Mexican and Creole African-American ancestry. Her biological father, Peter Michael Escovedo, is the brother of Sheila E, and her biological mother is Karen Moss. When she was three years old, her biological parents agreed to let her move in with Lionel Richie because they could not afford to provide for her. "My parents were friends with Lionel," she told People in 2003.
In 2003, Richie and her then-best friend Paris Hilton starred in the reality series The Simple Life, in which they lived for a month with a family in the rural community of Altus, Arkansas. The series premiere debuted on Fox on December 2, 2003, to 13 million viewers, increasing Fox's reach among viewers 18-49. The series continued for a second and third season. Fox subsequently canceled the show after a dispute between Hilton and Richie, but it was aired by E! Entertainment Television for its fourth season, drawing nearly one million viewers and was followed by a relatively unsuccessful fifth season. Complications arose during production of the fifth season, with both Richie and Hilton facing major charges for DUI, and at risk of serving jail time. Hilton was sentenced to 23 days in jail, though this was after production of the season had finished. Richie accepted a plea agreement and was sentenced to four days in jail, again after production had wrapped. Despite talks of a sixth season, the series finished its run at the end of the moderately unsuccessful fifth season. In 2005, Richie made her acting debut in the comedic drama Kids in America. Richie has guest starred in television series including Eve, Six Feet Under and American Dreams, 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, and playing the recurring character Heather Chandler on Chuck. In July 2008, plans were announced to turn Richie's 2005 novel, The Truth About Diamonds, into a television series. On January 1, 2010, it was announced that Richie would appear as a guest judge on Project Runway. In early 2016, Richie auditioned for a role in the NBC sitcom, Great News, created by Tracey Wigfield and produced by Wigfield and Tina Fey, which is set in the world of television news. Although Richie's audition was not successful, she was later brought in to replace Kimrie Lewis-Davis in the supporting role of Portia, an anchorwoman at the news channel depicted in the series. The show's producers had initially cast Lewis-Davis as Portia, but decided to go in a different direction with the character after seeing the results of the pilot episode. When speaking about casting Richie in her first scripted series-regular television role, Fey explained: "She's a really funny person and has an instant likability. Those are instincts you can't teach. People have it or not. She has good timing without really pushing it."

Q: what shows did she appear on
A: The Simple Life,
what was the show about
which they lived for a month with a family in the rural community of Altus, Arkansas. in which they lived for a month with a family in the rural community of Altus, Arkansas. in which they lived for a month with a family in the rural community of Altus, Arkansas. in which they lived for a month with a family in the rural community of Altus, Arkansas. The Simple Life, in which they lived for a month with a family in the rural community of Altus, Arkansas.
The Simple Life, in which they lived for a month with a family in the rural community of Altus, Arkansas.