Many celebs spend their days surrounding by a team of assistants, managers, stylists, etc. Some of them form lifelong friendships with their staff members.
However, some celebs wind up being not-so-great employers, which leads to public criticism or lawsuits from their staff.
Here are 14 celebs who are allegedly a nightmare to work for:
Some entries mention sexual harassment and violence.
Following the suit, several other people who formerly worked with Lizzo, including a dancer and her former creative director, spoke out in support of the dancers and claimed they'd had similar experiences.
On her Instagram story, director Sophia Nahli Allison said she dropped out of the singer's documentary after two weeks. She said, "I was treated with such disrespect by her. I witnessed how arrogant, self-centered, and unkind she is. [...] I felt gaslit and was deeply hurt, but I've healed. Reading these reports made me realize how dangerous of a situation it was."
Charlene Sánchez, the documentary's first camera assistant, added, "This is all so true. I had to vent to so many of my friends about it. It was such a small crew, and the experience of working with Lizzo was a nightmare."
On Instagram, Lizzo denied the allegations, calling them "false" and "too outrageous to not be addressed."
2. In his book Christian Bale: The Inside Story of the Darkest Batman, Harrison Cheung, Christian Bale's ex-publicist, wrote, "It only took me five years of therapy to get past my Bale years. My therapist would describe my condition as post-traumatic stress disorder."
He also alleged that the actor tried to make him sign an NDA before he could receive his paycheck, but he refused.
3. In 2013, Sharon Stone's ex-housekeeper, Angelica Castillo, sued her for allegedly illegally firing her after she injured her back loading the actor's groceries. She also alleged that Sharon refused to look at her doctor's notes and called her "crazy" and "stupid" for working slowly.
Sharon's lawyer called Angelica's claims "bizarre and ridiculous" and said she was "still covered by health insurance as an employee of Ms. Stone."
Previously, in 2012, the actor was sued by her former nanny, Erlinda T. Elemen, for allegedly belittling her over her ethnicity and violating labor laws. Erlinda also alleged she was fired for refusing to pay back overtime wages the actor said she didn't deserve.
In a statement, Sharon told CNN, "This is a frivolous lawsuit for absurd claims that are made-up and fabricated."
4. When Lady Gaga's ex-assistant, Jennifer O'Neill, sued her on allegations of not paying overtime, the legal documents revealed that she often had to share the singer's hotel beds because, while on tour, she had to attend to her boss's needs all night and wasn't given her own room.
Jennifer also once testified that Lady Gaga would wake her up at all hours of the night to change DVDs for her.
The judge ruled in her favor, deciding the requirement to be "on-call" entitled her to overtime pay.
5. An anonymous former employee of KKW, Kim Kardashian's cosmetics brand, told Vice, "It felt very exploitative...From the second we woke up, basically, we always had texts [waiting]. When we went to bed we would still be texting."
She also said, "There was a general expectation that people were so lucky to be working for [the Kardashian-Jenners] that they knew that they could treat people like crap. That was very obvious."
6. On a 2021 episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Kim Kardashian said that her sister, Kourtney Kardashian Barker, had a "reputation of degrading" her staff. Kim also confronted Kourtney about allegedly yelling at and publicly humiliating a nanny for telling her son talking in the car was illegal.
Kim said the nanny thought she was going to be let go, so she was found packing her things while crying.
Kourtney denied yelling at the nanny, but she has a history of other nannies quitting over her children's behavior. Previously, she also admitted that she "used to fucking slap [her] nannies" as a kid.
7. While shooting 1991's What About Bob?, Bill Murray reportedly got into a disagreement with producer Laura Ziskin the threw her into a lake. She called the incident "playful" but claimed other behavior he displayed on set wasn't.
At the time, she also said, "Bill also threatened to throw me across the parking lot and then broke my sunglasses and threw them across the parking lot. I was furious and outraged at the time, but having produced a dozen movies, I can safely say it is not common behavior."
Ben Dreyfuss, the son of Bill's costar Richard Dreyfuss, tweeted, "Bill Murray had a meltdown during [the movie] because he wanted an extra day off, and Laura said no...[He] ripped off her glasses off her face, and my dad complained about his behavior, and Bill Murray threw an ashtray at him...Everyone walked off the production and flew back to LA, and it only resumed after Disney hired some bodyguards to physically separate my dad and Bill Murray in between takes."
8. In 2020, a then-current and 10 former employees of The Ellen Degeneres Show anonymously told BuzzFeed News that Ellen's "be kind" mantra masked a toxic work environment behind the scenes, including managers who told their direct reports not to speak to the host when they saw her.
Some alleged they were fired for taking medical and bereavement leave, and one said she walked off her job after being subjected to comments about her race.
A former employee said, "If [Ellen] wants to have her own show and have her name on the show title, she needs to be more involved to see what's going on. I think the executive producers surround her and tell her, 'Things are going great, everybody's happy,' and she just believes that, but it's her responsibility to go beyond that."
In a joint statement, executive producers Ed Glavin, Mary Connelly, and Andy Lassner said, "Over the course of nearly two decades, 3,000 episodes, and employing over 1,000 staff members, we have strived to create an open, safe, and inclusive work environment. We are truly heartbroken and sorry to learn that even one person in our production family has had a negative experience. It's not who we are and not who we strive to be, and not the mission Ellen has set for us. For the record, the day to day responsibility of the Ellen show is completely on us. We take all of this very seriously and we realize, as many in the world are learning, that we need to do better, are committed to do better, and we will do better."
Soon after, dozens of former employees also accused several top producers of sexual misconduct behind the scenes. The producers denied such allegations, and in a statement, Warner Bros. said it "hoped to determine the validity and extent of publicly reported allegations and to understand the full breadth of the show’s day-to-day culture."
The show ended several months later.
9. In 2007, Katie Couric admitted to slapping CBS Evening News editor Jerry Cipriano's arm because he used the word "sputum" (which means the mix of spit and mucus you cough up) in a news story about tuberculosis.
She told New York Magazine, "I got mad at him and said, 'You can't do this to me. You have to tell me when you're going to use a word like that.' I was aggravated, there's no question about that....I sort of slapped him around."
10. In 2018, Mariah Carey was sued by her former nanny, Maria Burgues, who alleged she was terminated after issuing complaints regarding her working conditions and her pay. She also alleged that she wasn't compensated for her travel time during the singer's tours and that the kids' bodyguard yelled at and threatened her.
Previously, in 2015, Mariah reportedly settled a lawsuit from ex-nanny Simonette DaCosta, who alleged she wasn't paid overtime, despite being on-call 24/7 and working 100-hour weeks. She also alleged she was fired because the singer decided her kids were becoming too close to her.
11. In 2008, Dallas actor Victoria Principal pulled a gun on her former housekeeper, Maribel Banegas, after an argument. They sued each other the following year.
Victoria alleged that the altercation took place after Maribel arrived to work in a bad mood because she knew wanted to fire her for "aggressive behavior toward other staff." She also alleged that, after a walk, the maid dragged her dog into the house so roughly it suffered a back injury and then "pounded violently on the kitchen counters while yelling, 'Give me money.'"
However, Maribel denied these allegations and claimed she took the dog on an hour-long walk because she was waiting for it to go to the bathroom. She filed a personal injury suit and alleged that, after she asked for her paycheck, the actor "threatened to kill her."
After Victoria pulled the gun, Maribel hid in a room and locked the door, so the actor called the police. A spokesperson for the LA sheriff said the housekeeper "cooperated and agreed to leave the location after a payment dispute."
12. In 2022, Brandy's former housekeeper, Maria Elizabeth Castaneda, sued her for $250,000, alleging the singer wrongfully fired her for being too old and withholding payment for work she'd already completed.
13. In 2012, Courtney Love's ex-assistant and "forensic research aide," Jessica Labrie, sued her for breach of contract, unpaid wages, and wrongful termination. She alleged that the singer didn't deliver on her promise to give her a full-ride scholarship to Yale, failed to compensate her for overtime, and asked her to do unethical things, such as hiring a hacker and faking legal documents.
In a statement, Courtney's publicist said, "The allegations are completely unfounded and are being made with malice by a disgruntled former employee."
14. And finally, Naomi Campbell has been sued by several former employees. The allegations include throwing her phone at two different assistants (2000 and 2003), hitting another with her Blackberry (2005), slapping a maid in the face (2004), and hitting another maid who couldn't find the jeans she wanted with her rhinestone-encrusted cellphone so badly she needed stitches (2007).
In 2007, following her arrest for allegedly hitting and head-butting an ex-assistant, Naomi wore a T-shirt that said, "Naomi hit me, and I loved it."