Working for the Kardashians: Ex-staffers lift the lid

Amid increasing backlash for Kim’s “out of touch” work comments, here’s what former Kardashian staff have said about being on their payroll.

Kim Kardashian has enraged fans by claiming “nobody wants to work these days”.

The reality star, 41, made the “out of touch” comments during an interview with Variety, along with sisters Kourtney, 42, Khloe, 37 and their mother Kris Jenner, 66.

She said: “I have the best advice for women in business. Get your f**king a** up and work. It seems like nobody wants to work these days.”

As Kris and Kourtney agreed with Kim’s statement, she went on: “You have to surround yourself with people that want to work.

“Have a good work environment where everyone loves what they do because you have one life. No toxic work environments and show up and do the work.”

So, what’s it like to work for her superstar family? It might not be all it’s cracked up to be – as these Kardashian employees found out.

The famous family have many people on their payroll across their multiple businesses. Picture Jean-Baptiste Lacroix/AFP

Made to cry

In an episode of KUWTK last year, Kim ticked off sister Kourtney for scolding her nanny.

The feud erupted after Kim accused Kourtney of making her childminder cry during a family holiday.

Kim told her older sister that the nanny “said that she felt so degraded by you and you just started yelling at her”.

Kourtney then fired back: “Oh my God, she’s lying. Do you think I want to come into this negative environment every f****g day?

“I don’t understand why there’s all this judgment about the way we each want to live our lives.”

Tensions escalated when Kim later claimed Kourtney “yelled” at the nanny in a public restaurant in a conversation that “should have been in private” and accused her sister of being “unable to keep a nanny”.

Afterwards an insider told People that both Kim and Khloé “treat their nannies like family” – but Kourtney’s approach to the kids’ nannies is “different”.

“Kim has several nannies that help with her kids and they have worked for the family for a while. Khloé has also held onto a nanny for True that she treats well,” they said.

Back in 2019, Kourtney revealed her nanny quit after her daughter Penelope, who was seven at the time, scratched her during a tantrum.

‘Not given breaks’

In May last year, The Sun exclusively revealed Kim and Kanye’s ex staff were considering taking legal action against the now-divorced couple.

It came four months after Kanye was hit by similar claims from people in his Sunday Service choir — who claimed he had “mistreated workers”.

An insider alleged: “Since members of his Sunday Service crew sued, other employees have been considering their options.”

Kim faced accusations from seven members of her domestic team that they weren’t given mandatory breaks, paid for all their hours or reimbursed for expenses while working at her California home.

A rep for Kim said she couldn’t be held responsible because they were hired through a third-party vendor.

‘Underpaid’

Beauty journalist Jessica deFino lashed out at the Kardashian-Jenner family in 2020 for underpaying her.

I had to buy groceries at the 99 Cents Only Store when I worked as an editor on the Kardashian-Jenner Official Apps ❤️ and got reprimanded for freelancing on the side ❤️❤️ https://t.co/E4crddQo7i

— Jessica DeFino (@jessicadefino_) June 30, 2020

As editor on the now-defunct KarJenner apps, she took to Twitter to complain about how her employers treated her.

Her jibes followed news Kim had become a billionaire by selling a share of her KKW Beauty brand to make up powerhouse Coty.

Jessica wrote: “I had to buy groceries at the 99 Cents Only Store when I worked as an editor on the Kardashian-Jenner Official Apps. And got reprimanded for freelancing on the side.”

She added: “It’s an awful, exploitative policy that makes sure eager, inexperienced, and poorly paid employees remain inexperienced and poorly paid.”

Jessica’s LinkedIn page claims she worked for the Kardashians between May 2015 and July 2016 as an Assistant Editor of Khloe Kardashian Official App.

2am phone calls

Victoria Villarroel began working for Kris Jenner in 2015 and soon became lipstick mogul Kylie’s right hand woman.

Victoria Villarroel and former employer, Kylie Jenner.

She said: “She’ll call me at 2am and I will answer, I don’t really have set hours. It’s pretty much whenever duty calls.

“You basically do scheduling, travel, events. Like the Met Gala, you have to co-ordinate everything. Or any appearance that she has, award shows, the stylists, booking all her appointments and keeping her calendar up to date.

“I’ve learned a lot from her and her family … They all have their s*** together, for sure. They are inspiring.”

She told how she once slept in and almost made Kylie miss a flight: “The first time we were travelling together, I was going to pick her up to go to the airport, and I slept through my alarm … so she had to basically drive herself to the airport. It gave me so much anxiety, but she didn’t care.”

In one episode of KUWTK, she revealed she was scared of Kris Jenner while having to change Kylie’s travel plans.

Victoria quit her job in 2019 and furiously denied whisperings of a fall out.

She said in 2020: “We both decided it was time to grow without each other professionally about a year ago! She’s still one of my best friends and our relationship has only gotten stronger.”

Fall out rumours

Kim’s ex-PA Stephanie Shepherd was hired in 2013 and left the famous family shortly after being promoted to COO of Kim’s company Kardashian West Brands in 2017.

The departure led to rumours of a falling out but both sides denied the claims.

Stephanie said: “I would truly take a bullet for her. Wherever we are, my instinct is just to protect her.”

Stephanie Shepherd with Kim Kardashian.

Stephanie also had high praise for Kris Jenner: “That woman can literally get on the phone and change the world.”

In scenes in KUWTK, Kim looked shocked as Kourtney tells her Stephanie was complaining about her role.

Kim said: “I do think it’s inappropriate for her to talk to you and not to me.

She later added: “Don’t you think that’s just a little bit unprofessional?”

The pair later both agreed Stephanie would stop working for Kim.

Kim said: “You guys, we’ve never had a feud. She wanted to go in a different direction and I respect that. I love giving that encouragement to whoever I’m working with, and just because people stop working together doesn’t mean that they’re feuding and stop being friends.”

Insta-glam

Kim and Kylie scouted make up artist Hrush Achemyan through social media before inviting her to beautify them – and her experience was very positive.

She said: “They found me through Instagram, which is crazy. And then we had mutual friends. I feel like the Kardashians are the ultimate authority on glam. I don’t care what anybody says – they are.”

The family soon became her biggest clients – with Hrush also joining Jennifer Lopez’s glam squad.

She told how the KarJenner family are beautiful on the inside, as well as on the outside.

Hrush said: “Their beauty resides from within. They are probably the kindest clients I’ve ever worked with.

“I feel like they’re way prettier to me when I look at them versus when somebody else looks at them, because they’re so nice and they give equal opportunity for everybody.”

This January, Hrush revealed she was being treated for ovarian cancer – and was under the care of the KarJenner’s obstetrician.

She said: “When you find out, it’s a little too late, but thank you, lord, for having this amazing doctor in my life.”

No longer speak

Joyce Bonelli served as a make-up artist for a decade before mysteriously falling out with the family in 2018.

She allegedly angered the family by doing Caitlyn Jenner’s make up – despite them asking her not to.

Joyce Bonelli no longer works with the family.

Before the fall out Kim visited Joyce in hospital after she had her twins in 2016.

But the family soon stopped following Joyce on Instagram en masse while Joyce appeared to taunt them by wearing a dressing robe which read: “‘F**k with me, I dare you.”

A source told Us Weekly back in June 2018 that “the family doesn’t speak to her anymore.

“She hasn’t worked for them for months. They just stopped working with her because they didn’t see it as a right fit anymore.”

But the icy relationship appears to have thawed – with Joyce attending Kanye West’s Sunday Service in 2019.

Ghosted

Stylist Monica Rose was a favourite of the KarJenners until in 2017 they all unfollowed her.

The fashionista met Kim in 2007 on a magazine shoot and soon started working with the whole family.

She even branched out to working with Chrissy Teigen, Cara Delevingne and Kaia Gerber thanks to her high profile role.

Monica Rose was once in the family’s inner circle.

But after a decade of working with Kim, suddenly the whole family dropped her – both in real life and social media.

Allegedly, Kim was angered by a 2016 interview she gave claiming to be behind her high fashion makeover shortly after meeting Kanye.

In the New York Post article, Monica jokes she threw out 30 Herve Leger bandage dresses from Kim’s closet.

Kim denied this was the cause of the fall out but insisted Kanye was behind her fashion shake up.

She told Andy Cohen: “I haven’t worked with her in maybe four years, so my reason is not connected to this.

“But I will say that I read that it was said that she was the reason for my makeover — my makeover when I met Kanye — and I will say that Kanye got me a new team and we kind of documented it.”

Kiss and make up

Make-up artist Mario Dedivanovic began working with Kim when she was a fledgling reality star in 2008, and spoke highly of his experience.

He told how he was pressured to stop working with Kim, because “the elitist world, they looked down upon people like reality stars”.

“I had an agent that demanded that I stop working with her,” he said.

“They said that, ‘She’ll never be successful. And you’re going to go down right with her and you’re gonna lose your entire career’.”

But the make-up artist left his agent and supported Kim through her whirlwind ascent to fame.

He said: “It was 365 days a year, it was never-ending.”

He is still good friends with Kim and launched a KKW Beauty palette with her in 2019.

He even came out as gay that same year with Kim by his side at the American Influencer Awards.

This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission.

Originally published as Working for the Kardashians: Ex-staffers lift the lid