Radaronline seems to think so. They have photos of newly-single Christina Aguilera out with a guy identified as Matthew Rutler, a set assistant who worked on her movie Burlesque. The pair reportedly went out on a double date in L.A. with Nicole Richie and Joel Madden. If they really are a couple and not just a tabloid invention, I hope Matthew doesn’t sell Christina out in a paid interview a la Amy Winehouse and Alex Haines.
Archive for the 'Celebrity Assistant Soapbox' Category
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… well, not really. But it seems so realistic! After all, considering we’re talking about a woman who has an army of assistants and made one of them plan her wedding here, the fetus will probably have its own legion of nannies. Hello Kitty shaped ones, perhaps.
Anne Hathaway is on the cover of November’s Vogue, proving once again that you can star in The Devil Wears Prada and somehow get Anna Wintour not to hate you. In the interview, Anne says that she wants to do more than just act – her goals include finishing college, starting a band, and being Tilda Swinton’s assistant. Um, it’s cool that you like Tilda Swinton, because she is awesome, but since you’re famous already you could probably just be her friend and not have to manage her schedule.
Perhaps this is a new trend: is the vanity assistantship the new vanity internship? Way to one-up Kanye, Anne.
Fashion Week just wrapped up here in New York. Some shows, like Rodarte, got great reviews. And some shows, like Zac Posen, did not. But lest you think the person who designed the clothes had anything to do with the show’s negative reviews, you should remember that it is always the assistant’s fault. According to Page Six:
Insiders say Posen’s executive assistant, who also managed the designer’s p.r. for the past few months, quit a week before the show. Then his casting director walked out three days beforehand. Insiders described Posen’s show as “disorganized,” with some VIPs, including Claire Danes and Kristin Cavallari, not having seat assignments.
Beth Ditto, lead singer of The Gossip and fashion icon, left her longtime partner and is now dating her assistant, Kristen. The out and proud lesbian told British Marie Claire that she and Kristen are so serious they’ve even talked about having a baby. Though Beth’s 29, she’s already planning ahead, and said she’d like to get pregnant when she’s 37. Obviously, my brain went here:
Jennifer Lopez is hiring a personal assistant. But like many celebrity assistant positions, this one requires a lot more than taking dictation and making phone calls. Life & Style magazine spoke to an “insider,” aka J.Lo’s former assistant, about what exactly the gig entails:
“The job is 6 days a week, at least 12 hour days with one day off, but you may not get off for weeks,” says the insider. “You’ll be on call 24/7 and you’ve got to be organized and always on point.”
And while hanging out with A-Listers may be glamorous – the insider notes the candidate must be comfortable around “very high profile people” – there are more mundane duties as well. “You have to change diapers, work on little sleep and cook if the butler is away,” the insider continues. But don’t worry, there will be some glamorous moments too; our source says qualified candidates get to help J. Lo dress for red carpet events and photo shoots. The salary for this gig? $55,000 to $65,000.
Sadly, that’s pretty typical. Although it was nice of the “source” not to mention that job duties include “being screamed at constantly.”
Although she was thinking about selling out her boss, Eleanore has taken back her job as Lindsay Lohan’s assistant. However, there’s one wrinkle – Lindsay’s not around to tell Eleanore what to do. However, don’t think that means Eleanor gets to go on vacation until her boss is back roaming the streets. According to the New York Post, Lindsay’s mom Dina and sister Ali have decided that while Lindsay is in jail/rehab, Eleanore works for them. A source told the Post that Eleanore is miserable but doesn’t want to quit again and is counting down the moments til Lindsay is out of rehab.
A couple of things are going on here. One: I have no idea why Eleanore went back to work for Lindsay if she was supposedly getting offers eleswhere. I understand that ratting out your former boss for money isn’t the classiest thing to do, but she could have tried to parlay her assistant gig into a chance to work for another celebrity a la Lindsay Ratowsky. Once you have worked as one celebrity’s PA it is a lot easier to work for another celebrity. Two: With all those rumors swirling around about Eleanore possibly selling her story to a tabloid, why would Lindsay take her back at all? I suspect no one else wanted to work for her and Lindsay was desperate.
That said, I don’t like the way that Lindsay’s family expects Eleanore to wait on them while Lindsay’s away. It doesn’t surprise me, since plenty of celebrities and non-celebrities alike end up making their assistants work on personal shit in addition to their actual job duties. My former boss was always making me deal with his kids’ schools and run errands for his wife and, unfortunately, there wasn’t much I could do about it. When you’re hired to be a celebrity assistant that usually means that you are involved in every aspect of their lives. It sucks, but it’s quite typical. And when the family members happen to be terrible people, that makes your job all the more awful.
Free Eleanore T-shirts, anyone?
As assistant gigs go, this one’s not bad: Holly Madison’s assistant, Angel Porrino, will be taking over Holly’s role in the Las Vegas show Peepshow while Holly is on vacation. The fill-in only lasts for a week, but I can definitely say that in all the times I ever covered for my boss I never go to do anything remotely as interesting as that.
For those of you who watch Holly’s reality show Holly’s World, Angel is a regular cast member. Here’s a clip from when she celebrated her 21st birthday on the show:
Last night, I stopped by Kathy Griffin’s book signing at the Borders in Columbus Circle. It was a total madhouse, and Kathy came out in a yellow party dress and insanely high heels to wave at her public. She did take a couple of questions before starting the reading, and one woman in the audience asked if Kathy needed a new assistant. Tiffany, Kathy’s assistant, wasn’t there that night, and Kathy explained that Tiffany was in her hometown going to a wedding. (“She’s the only person from her high school who doesn’t have, like, twelve kids,” quoth Kathy.) As you may remember, Kathy used to have two assistants, Jessica Zajicek and Tiffany Rinehart. When Jessica quit, Tiffany became assistant numero uno, but she’s currently doing the job alone. So, will Woman In the Audience get her wish? Kathy’s response:
No. You can send in an application, but Tiffany will burn it.
And there you have it – for the meantime, Team Griffin is staying as is.
