Kim Kardashian is facing backlash after giving "tone deaf" advice. Photo / Getty Images
Kim Kardashian is facing backlash after giving "tone deaf" advice. Photo / Getty Images
A former Kardashians employee has spoken out against the family's business after Kim Kardashian claimed the secret to success was to "get your f***ing ass up and work".
"I have the best advice for women in business," the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star said in an interview with Variety published on Thursday.
"Get your f***ing ass up and work. It seems like nobody wants to work these days," she said.
Social media blew up almost instantaneously after the lengthy article, which featured each of the sisters and their "momager" Kris Jenner, was published.
Readers' main gripe was the way the reality star grossly simplified how success was achieved, negating real-world struggles experienced by people not born into wealth or opportunities like she was.
One woman, Jessica DeFino, accused the Kardashian sister of being a hypocrite, claiming she was subject to such low pay when she was employed by the family seven years ago that she couldn't afford to put petrol in her car.
I was an editor on the Kardashian apps in 2015 in LA, worked days nights & weekends, could only afford groceries from the 99 Cents Only Store, called out “sick” more than once bc I couldn’t put gas in my car to get to the office, & was reprimanded for freelancing on the side ❤️ https://t.co/mzvnTomjS3
DeFino said she worked as an editor on the Kardashian apps in 2015, and despite working incredibly hard, had to shop at discount retailers just to get by.
"I was an editor on the Kardashian apps in 2015 in LA, worked days, nights and weekends, could only afford groceries from the 99 Cents Only Store, called out 'sick' more than once because I couldn't put gas in my car to get to the office, and was reprimanded for freelancing on the side," DeFino said in a tweet.
In the article, Kardashian addressed the popularly held opinion that she was "just famous for being famous" – arguing "hey, we made it. I don't know what to tell you".
"Who gives a f***. We focus on the positive. We work our arses off. If that's what you think, then sorry. We just don't have the energy for that. We don't have to sing or dance or act; we get to live our lives," she said.
DeFino claimed her negative experience working on the Kardashians app left her wanting to change career direction.
She said after leaving, she "pivoted to beauty media because I want to change the industry and quickly realised how f***ed up and exploitative *that* world was," she said in a follow-up tweet.
"It's why I do what I do now: Critiquing the beauty industry and reporting on the harms of beauty culture for my newsletter, The Unpublishable."
Another woman said she too used to work for the Kardashian family, but did it for free.
"I worked my little college arse off for free for Kimberly. So I better get some addendum in here saying 'except Celene, she was amazing'," a woman named Celene Zavala tweeted.
Celene Zavala, a former unpaid intern for the Kardashian's took to Twitter to share her experience. Photo / Twitter
The 22-year-old in December commented that "everyone has the same 24 hours" in an interview on the Diary of a CEO podcast.
Hague acknowledged that while "we all have different backgrounds and we're all raised in different ways and we do have different financial situation" she believes that "if you want something enough, you can achieve it", she said in part of the widely-condemned interview.
