Not every relationship works out – whether that’s husband/wife, parent/child, or boss/employee. But when that relationship dissolves in public, it’s even messier than a regular breakup. Lately, I’ve been watching as stylist to the stars and reality show centerpiece Rachel Zoe has used the fashion media to trash her former assistant, Taylor Jacobson (pictured at left in happier days), who was fired at the end of the last season of The Rachel Zoe Project. Anyone who watched the show saw the obvious tension between Taylor, who’d worked for Zoe some time, and Brad, the second assistant who was hired just as the reality show kicked off. Taylor hoped that hiring Brad meant she’d be promoted into a more managerial position or taking on additional responsibility, but that didn’t really pan out. Naturally, Taylor was frustrated by what she saw as stasis.
Zoe told WWD that “I hired Brad, this little angel, and then Taylor just went in for the kill. And I, like, did not see that coming. I always knew what she was capable of, but who knew that was going to happen with the camera?” Not content to let the mean-bitter-Taylor-picks-on-poor-adorable-angel-Brad storyline rest, Page Six ran an item claiming that Taylor had stolen clothes from her boss. I’ll quote Zoe herself (also from the WWD interview) when she talks about what Taylor’s up to now: “I don’t care what she does.” I also don’t care what Taylor does, but I do care about the fact that Zoe, who I previously respected as an entrepreneur, is talking shit about a former employee in the press. Taylor, to her credit, has barely made a peep. In fact, I didn’t know where she was working until the WWD article mentioned her new job (it’s for a denim company called Kasil).
Is it right to steal clothes? No. It is right to pick on an employee just because you don’t like them, even if you are just taking out your own issues on them? No. And is it right for the boss, the person with the power and the influence, to publicly talk shit about a former employee? No. Rachel Zoe is not some random woman scorned – she is a well known figure in the fashion world who works with celebrities, has tremendous clout, and makes a lot of money. When she goes after Taylor, she looks like she’s kicking someone who is already down. It may be that every single thing she says about Taylor is true, but I don’t care. She’s saying these things in order to promote her reality show and get more people to watch it, and I find that tacky. It would be another thing if Taylor applied for a job somewhere and someone called Zoe to ask whether they should hire her – you’re allowed to say “No, I would not recommend hiring her because she did X and Y when she worked for me” to someone else in the industry if they call about a job reference. But to give interviews to fashion industry publications trashing a former employee, even if you’re 100 percent in the right, just comes off as gross and uneccessary. Zoe has already won: she’s the one who is famous, has a TV show, and gets paid a lot of money to help celebrities pick out clothes. Continuing to smear Taylor is the equivalent of Patti LuPone using a public platform to insult a community theater actor.
I’m sure that Zoe, as she says, is just out to “set the record straight.” The record wasn’t crooked in the first place. However, the new season of The Rachel Zoe Project starts in August. I’m certain that’s totally a coincidence.
Cross-posted at The Gloss
