Actress Taryn Manning was charged with misdemeanor assault after she allegedly punched, kicked, and choked her personal assistant. But Manning, best known for playing Eminem’s ex-girlfriend in 8 Mile, is hardly the first star to be accused of mixing it up with a member of their staff. From Courtney Love to Anna Wintour, read on for eight of the worst personal-assistant horror stories.
According to prosecutors, Taryn Manning punched, scratched, kicked, choked, and beat her assistant Holliann Hartman, leaving the woman with massive bruises on her head and body. Manning also allegedly smashed Hartman’s face against the floor. The actress’s lawyers are trying to downplay the altercation, saying it was just a late-night argument that happened after a long day of traveling to promote Manning’s new music video on VH1. Regardless, the case is moving forward, and Manning has been ordered to steer clear of Hartman.
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Given Courtney Love’s history, is it any surprise that one of her personal assistants is suing her for back pay? Jessica Labrie’s lawsuit alleges that Love promised $30 an hour, a full scholarship to Yale, and an opportunity to work on a Nirvana biopic. Instead, Labrie, whose title was assistant and “forensic research aide,” says she got stiffed. Labrie also claims Love requested that she hire a computer hacker and send fake legal documents. A publicist for Love responded in a statement: “The allegations are completely unfounded and are being made with malice by a disgruntled former employee.”
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Jennifer O’Neill was in charge of Lady Gaga’s schedule, and credit-card bills, as well as ordering her meals and making sure the megastar had a towel as soon as she stepped out of the shower. But O’Neill says the singer hasn’t ponied up the $379,000 in overtime she’s owed. O’Neill has sued Gaga, claiming she was on duty 24 hours a day and routinely worked far more than a typical 40-hour workweek. A rep for the star called the suit “completely without merit.”
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Lance Armstrong has seen a lot of his dirty laundry aired lately. In early October the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency released a scathing report that painted the cyclist as a dope fiend who forced teammates into using banned substances. But just before that report dropped, Armstrong’s personal assistant painted another picture—of what he says it’s like to be on his boss’s bad side. Fired in 2004, Mike Anderson writes in an article in Outside that Armstrong backed out of an agreement to help him open a bike shop and tried to strong-arm him into signing a nondisclosure agreement. When that didn’t work, Anderson writes, Armstrong’s lawyers began leaking details of the negotiations to the press, making outlandish claims to the press, and suing Anderson for extortion. Anderson countersued and eventually settled out of court.
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Cellphone-throwing supermodel Naomi Campbell has been accused of abusing several of her employees—from her limo driver to her housekeeper. She also has been accused of assaulting a police officer at Heathrow Airport. Amie Castaldo, one of her personal assistants, has made some of most specific claims yet. According to Castaldo, Campbell attacked her, screaming, “You fucking worthless bitch.” Campbell allegedly also head-butted her, bit her, and pulled her to the ground by her hair. What caused the row? Castaldo says Campbell became enraged when she booked the wrong hairdresser for an event. A spokeswoman for the model says she “categorically denies the wild accusations by Amie Castaldo.”
Mike Coppola
Keri Hilson reportedly lost it when she realized her personal assistant failed to remove a tag from a pair of black harem pants she was wearing on stage. According to one source, Hilson lost it and started screaming at the assistant for “not being able to do anything right.” One of Hilson’s security guards and her manager reportedly had to intervene before the singer stormed off. Hilson’s rep denied the report, saying there was no altercation.
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Andrew Young’s job for much of the time he worked with former Sen. John Edwards was covering up his boss’s affair and subsequent love child. Young had to take out a lease in his name for Edwards’s mistress Rielle Hunter, get her a BMW, and make sure she had her allowance from the presidential candidate. As if that wasn’t enough, Young would later falsely claim paternity of Hunter’s baby to keep Edwards’s reputation intact.
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Anna Wintour’s impossibly high standards have become the stuff of legend, thanks to the novel The Devil Wears Prada. The book, based on author Lauren Weisberger’s stint as assistant to the legendary Vogue editor, paints Wintour’s alter ego Miranda Priestly as an exacting boss who would dress down employees who didn’t look the part. Priestly’s requests—from tracking down the latest Harry Potter book to send to her children in Paris to identifying an antique store where she once saw a dresser she liked—veer from the ostentatious to the impossible.
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