Nicole Richie is 'not going to apologize' for 'wild' behavior

Nicole Richie knows she made some “bad decisions” during her younger years in the spotlight, but she refuses to apologize for it.

"I hear a lot of 'Wow, you once looked like this, but now you look like this!' and 'You once were wild, and now you're an angel!'” the 35-year-old wrote in an essay for Lena Dunham’s Lenny Letter. “I am not going to apologize for being me so you can get your triumphant ending."

Richie said she accepts her past “wild child” days.

The starlet had repeated arrests from 2002 to 2007. She was on probation through 2010.

“With my family and close friends, I am owning my past… not trying to hide from it, not trying to change it, just allowing it to help propel me forward."

The former reality star believes living out her mistakes in the limelight kept her from repeating them.

"I realized I am actually extremely thankful I was so beastly in front of the world for a few reasons. It's so bad in people's minds that there's nothing that can embarrass me now,” she wrote. “I also truly believe if I didn't have so many eyes on me, it would've been easier for me to slip back into my reckless behavior. I had people rooting me on and watching me at a time when I needed that."