Ahhh, the joke’s on us. Remember a few days ago when Paris Hilton was snapped wandering around L.A. with some supposed guru? We thought the joke was on Paris, because the guru is actually an actor. And Paris is pretty dumb. And desperate to seem deep and relevant. So it seemed like a pretty sure thing. I noted, “There’s no way to ascertain whether Paris knows [“guru” Maxie] Santillan is an actor or if she thinks he’s really a monk. I really really really hope this is for an upcoming episode of Punk’d or something. Which I don’t think is even on anymore, but if there was anyone who deserves to be Punk’d, it’s definitely Paris. She’d laugh like she was in on it the whole time, but only because she has no idea what’s going on, and in that type of situation it’s always best to laugh.” Well it turns out it is a joke – but not on Paris, on the rest of us. Paris was actually in on the whole thing.

Paris Hilton had an improbable dinner date in L.A. Saturday: a gray-haired, orange-robed “shaman” who blessed her and urged her to give a diamond necklace to a total stranger. “He’s really changed my life,” Hilton told paparazzi from her car, adding she offered the necklace “because the greatest gift is to give.”

Turns out, as some outlets later discovered, the “mystic” was an actor named Maxie Santillan Jr., who has appeared on CSI and My Name Is Earl. And though some accused Hilton of getting Punk’d, the joke’s on them: The entire scene was staged for a new show from Punk’d producer Ashton Kutcher premiering Sunday on E! (10:30 ET/PT).

Pop Fiction, an eight-episode series, is a prank show targeting paparazzi and gullible media outlets. It’s made with the eager help of stars, who were the laughing stocks of Kutcher’s former MTV show. This time the shoe’s on the other foot, and the series has been kept so tightly under wraps that E!’s own website fell victim to the Hilton hoax and other planted stories that producers won’t yet divulge.

[From the Huffington Post]

Tricky bastards. That’s freaking amazing that they managed to pull one over on their own network. And to do all this without any of the paparazzi figuring it out is pretty impressive. How in the world did they disguise all the cameras? I guess they probably made the show’s cameras look like they were part of the paparazzi. Really, the big tip-off (besides the fact that the guy’s an actor) was Paris giving away her diamond necklace. I could definitely believe she’s wander around with a guru thinking it would make her look good. But there’s no way in hell you can convince me that Paris Hilton would give away a real diamond anything. You have to give credit where it’s due: that Ashton Kutcher is one sneaky dude.

Paris is shown out with her “Shaman” on 3/1/08.