What do you think she said?

LOS ANGELES — Nicole Richie irritated a local family during taping of “The Simple Life” by asking an 11-year-old boy, in graphic language, if she looked attractive. The boy was playing basketball Wednesday in the driveway of his home. Richie, pushing a baby carriage, approached and questioned the youth about how she looked, using a profane word. Two camera operators and another crew taped the exchange. The boy’s father refused the crew’s request that he sign a release giving them the right to use the clip with his son. Instead he complained to the show’s production company. “The Simple Life,” which features Richie and Paris Hilton thrown into normal jobs and responsibilities, has been dropped by Fox. But the show was picked up this season by E! and renamed “Simple Life 4: Till Death Do Us Part.” The episode shot in the Castaic neighborhood of Los Angeles is scheduled to air in the spring, show publicist Chris Delhomme said. “The girls are taking turns on their own as wife and mother in their own house,” Delhomme said. “The premise is fish out of water. These rich celebutantes in the environment they know little about. That’s the comedy.” Richie’s publicist did not return calls seeking comment.