Lady Gaga's Former Personal Assistant Sues Her, Says She Was Treated Like A Slave
CelebritiesDirt BagWhen it comes to being a boss, Lady Gaga might be a big monster. Her former personal assistant, Jennifer O’Neill, is suing her, claiming she’s owed $380,000 in unpaid overtime. The 41-year-old O’Neill described her job in court papers, saying basically that she was a slave to Lady Gaga’s every whim. Among her responsibilities: getting Gaga anything she wanted at any hour of the day or night, handling her schedule, her money, and her food (though there wasn’t always time for O’Neill herself to eat). Oh, and, of course, “ensuring the availability of chosen outfits,” which probably involved lots of trips to the butcher and to outer space.
Sure, that sounds annoying, but it actually reads like a pretty standard celebrity personal assistant job description, especially when the boss is someone as famous as Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta. And O’Neill could have had it a lot worse! According to one of Gaga’s other former assistants, Angela Ciemny, she had to sleep with the singer most nights because she hated being alone. They even showered together sometimes, just so Lady Gaga wouldn’t have to be by herself for even a second. Ugh.
O’Neill was paid $75,000 a year to suffer through her job. She only held the job for 13 months; so that seems like a fair amount of overtime to seeking. Lady Gaga’s camp obviously denies she is a living, breathing nightmare, saying the suit is “completely without merit.” [New York Post]
Dido and husband Rohan Gavin had their first child, a boy, on Christmas. They named him Stanley, and Us Weekly helpful points out that he shares a name with the character from her 2000 song with Eminem, “Stan.” In case you’ve forgotten, Us reminds you the song was about, “a fictitious fan, named Stan, who bombards the rapper with letters in the hope he will write back. However when he fails to receive a reply from his hero, Stan seals his fate by killing his girlfriend and their unborn child, before committing suicide.” Umm, yes, I am sure that is the reason she named her baby Stanley… [US Weekly]
Haven’t had enough of Christmas carols yet? Scrubs pals Zach Braff and Donald Faison have released a video of them singing “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” Depending on your feelings about that song and about Zach Braff, you will either find it charming or an affront to your senses. [ONTD]
The Royal Family, including William and Kate, walked to and from church on Christmas morning. Kate, predictably, looked beautiful. She was wearing a maroon coat and a jaunty hat, which is either a signal that she is pregnant with sextuplets or that she refuses to give William the child he so desperately wants (or it could just mean that she, you know, looks good in that color). After church, they had a turkey lunch, and then many of them went to visit Prince Philip, who’s in the hospital recovering from heart surgery. [Radar]
- Speaking of the Royal Family, Charlize Theron wants you to know she is not in love with Prince Harry. While chatting with Piers Morgan, she joked that she was pregnant and married to her friend Prince Harry. But then she said there was nothing going on between them, “I wanted to go to a polo game so we went to a polo game, we’re going to try and do something together in Africa.” She also said, “I have to say Prince Harry is lovely, absolutely charming.” So now that Harry is out of the running, the door is open for other guys. Charlize says, “I’m single! I need to find a man!” Get on it, gentlemen! Just don’t give her a Hello Kitty bouquet on the first date. [Daily Mail]
- Actor and naked bongos aficionado Matthew McConaughey is engaged! He asked longtime girlfriend—and mother of his two children—Camila Alves to marry him on Christmas. [HuffPo]
- In case you didn’t already envy Naomi Watts enough, she was just named the highest earning Australian actor of 2011, She made a cool $19.1 million, beating out her BFF and fellow Aussie, Nicole Kidman, who only made $18.6. [Just Jared]
- Whatever you were doing this holiday weekend, it was not as cool as what Beyonce and Jay-Z did. They hosted a dance party in NYC and, obviously, had a blast. [People]
- Perhaps to supply her with the love and affection she’s going to need to survive as part of the Kardashian Klan, Kris and Bruce Jenner got Kendall Jenner two very cute chocolate lab puppies for Christmas. [Daily Mail]
- Do you stay awake nights wondering how Mariah Carey’s twins, Moroccan and Monroe, are shaping up? Well, according to Mimi, Moroccan is “the life of the party.” And then there is his sister: “We have Miss Monroe Cannon – that’s what I call her, Miss Monroe. She’s very dainty and she holds her own bottle. She’s Miss Independent, definitely Miss Independent.” Now you know! [People]
- Bono gave some of his fans the gift of himself this Christmas Eve. He showed up unannounced to busk with singer Glen Hansard on the streets of Dublin. In return for the surprise entertainment, they asked the gathered crowds to make a donation to charity. [Daily Mail]
- According to TMZ, Maria Shriver has told friends she’s not sure she wants to divorce her cheating husband Arnold Schwarzenegger after all. It could be due to her religious beliefs, or it could be because Arnold is desperate to win her back and his been bringing his A-game to their relationship lately. Please insert your own “I’ll be baaahck” joke here. [TMZ]
- Filmmaker Baz Luhrmann cut his head while on set in Australia filming The Great Gatsby. He “was ducking under the crane and struck his head on the weights on the end of the camera crane. He split open his head and we had to get the doctor.” He ended up with three stitches and is going to be fine. No word on whether Leonardo DiCaprio rushed to his side and did that weird thing where he makes his eyes bug out to indicate he’s feeling an unpleasant emotion. [E! Online]