America is sick. The fact that the ultra-wealthy can treat their employees this way and not be driven from polite society says it's all. There is no sense of decency whatsoever and no matter how much money they have it's never enough. How easy would it have been for the Kardashians to pay you more? It would have made no difference to them financially and yet they underpay and overwork you because they can. Sick sick sick.
This is such 🔥🔥🔥 . Too relatable too, I remember working an unpaid internship in the garment district to get my foot in the door in the LA fashion world while sharing a studio (and bed) with another girl and working a crap job on the Venice boardwalk to pay my half of the rent. Sitting on the freeway staring at your dial hoping your light doesn't turn on before you arrive...ouch. You think you'll break in, but the opportunity is really only there if you can afford to (literally) pay your dues.
It's such a twisted culture to see how they can nonchalantly call out the laziness of others while building their brands on the backs of underpaid women trying to get a break.
Thank you thank you Jessica for all your major reporting & openness on the madness of beauty culture. You're a real gem.
The Kardashian family is such a perfect example of everything that’s wrong with our society and capitalist system. They talk a big girlboss game but do absolutely nothing of value and only exist to promote themselves. They’ll never get a cent of my money.
This article gripped my heart. I am both outraged and deeply saddened to read it. The Emperor indeed has no clothes. As a matter of course these inequities keep one us stuck in debtors prison see: student loans! Your article reminds me yet again that all that glitters is not gold!
Some people work hard to build their grit and skills to succeed. Some people are born into wealth and then make a porn video to become famous for being famous.
I’m sorry that you were trapped in that terrible hamster wheel of greed and narcissism. Thank you for the important work you do to speak truth to power.
I loved this article the first time I read it - it was early in a deep dive discovery when I first found your work… I remember it as the first piece of writing that directly invited me to question so many of the endless beauty standards we are raised on. I’ve been challenging certain beauty norms for close to a decade, but this still stands out as one of the first time I’d seen such direct scrutiny in writing. I’m looking forward to re-reading it, just to see what parts land most now. Thanks for re-sharing.
Your writing is a gift Jessica, and I’m grateful for the work you do.
Thank you for reposting this — while not surprised by their greed, it saddens me to think what everyone goes through at the expense of that morally bankrupt family. I do not keep up with them, nor would I ever purchase from any of their brands; their chokehold on the world is atrocious and I long for boomerang karma to arrive.
I love this piece Jess. Painful as it was for you, there was a lot to learn from it. There’s this breathless ‘lemme get it all out’ feel to your telling that’s palpable. Working within an industry that somehow doesn’t really feel totally equal to one’s own value system is a huge strain (I could relate having spent the bulk of my career in the music business), especially when one is young and trying to get a foothold. But it also reinforced everything I assumed about the Kardashians starting years and years ago. I think they really did, with the aid of Instagram’s birth of course, kick off the ‘fuckening’ (trashening if you prefer) of America; introducing us to and drawing out the worst in us. In much of culture itself; most notably of course the health & beauty industries. Simultaneously, young people decided fame was the only goal worth having and by any means possible. That brought us “influencers” and made that a real possibility, and behold, SM changed the metric for what “fame” was. It was all the result of a confluence of many things to the cultural zeitgeist, of course. But it seems a certain grace or piece of dignity was just sucked out of the atmosphere from then on. We’ve never recovered
it, and may never.
Anyway I’m so glad you survived mostly unscathed. But I’m so sorry about Vice, and the others falling by the wayside little by little, what a loss (OK Buzzfeed maybe not so much). But I’m glad you’re here!!
America is sick. The fact that the ultra-wealthy can treat their employees this way and not be driven from polite society says it's all. There is no sense of decency whatsoever and no matter how much money they have it's never enough. How easy would it have been for the Kardashians to pay you more? It would have made no difference to them financially and yet they underpay and overwork you because they can. Sick sick sick.
Capitalism has always worked this way. Fair wages have never been a thing. The rich always get richer and the poor always get poorer.
The engine of our socioeconomic system:
“For members of the executive elite, wealth increases with the productivity of every undercompensated worker beneath them.”
This is such 🔥🔥🔥 . Too relatable too, I remember working an unpaid internship in the garment district to get my foot in the door in the LA fashion world while sharing a studio (and bed) with another girl and working a crap job on the Venice boardwalk to pay my half of the rent. Sitting on the freeway staring at your dial hoping your light doesn't turn on before you arrive...ouch. You think you'll break in, but the opportunity is really only there if you can afford to (literally) pay your dues.
It's such a twisted culture to see how they can nonchalantly call out the laziness of others while building their brands on the backs of underpaid women trying to get a break.
Thank you thank you Jessica for all your major reporting & openness on the madness of beauty culture. You're a real gem.
The Kardashian family is such a perfect example of everything that’s wrong with our society and capitalist system. They talk a big girlboss game but do absolutely nothing of value and only exist to promote themselves. They’ll never get a cent of my money.
very disturbed by this company monitoring you so that you couldn't escape them
Deeply concerning.
This article gripped my heart. I am both outraged and deeply saddened to read it. The Emperor indeed has no clothes. As a matter of course these inequities keep one us stuck in debtors prison see: student loans! Your article reminds me yet again that all that glitters is not gold!
,,Knowing the (...) ideal was physically impossible didn’t stop me from internalizing it." This piece is such a classic, thanks for reposting.
Remember reading this when it was published and it is just as impactful second time around. Superb work Jessica. Thank you.
Some people work hard to build their grit and skills to succeed. Some people are born into wealth and then make a porn video to become famous for being famous.
I’m only a subscriber to the former. 🙌
I could have highlighted every line of this. F*CKING HELL JESS, wow. So so powerful. 💙
Let’s not forget the beginnings of the “Empire”
A mom promoting a daughter’s sex tape.
Knowing that .. no one should be surprised what this family is all about.
“Run fast.. Run Far” .. glad you got out,..
I’m sorry that you were trapped in that terrible hamster wheel of greed and narcissism. Thank you for the important work you do to speak truth to power.
I loved this article the first time I read it - it was early in a deep dive discovery when I first found your work… I remember it as the first piece of writing that directly invited me to question so many of the endless beauty standards we are raised on. I’ve been challenging certain beauty norms for close to a decade, but this still stands out as one of the first time I’d seen such direct scrutiny in writing. I’m looking forward to re-reading it, just to see what parts land most now. Thanks for re-sharing.
Your writing is a gift Jessica, and I’m grateful for the work you do.
Thank you for reposting this — while not surprised by their greed, it saddens me to think what everyone goes through at the expense of that morally bankrupt family. I do not keep up with them, nor would I ever purchase from any of their brands; their chokehold on the world is atrocious and I long for boomerang karma to arrive.
This is a hugely important article. Upton Sinclair for the modern era.
I love this piece Jess. Painful as it was for you, there was a lot to learn from it. There’s this breathless ‘lemme get it all out’ feel to your telling that’s palpable. Working within an industry that somehow doesn’t really feel totally equal to one’s own value system is a huge strain (I could relate having spent the bulk of my career in the music business), especially when one is young and trying to get a foothold. But it also reinforced everything I assumed about the Kardashians starting years and years ago. I think they really did, with the aid of Instagram’s birth of course, kick off the ‘fuckening’ (trashening if you prefer) of America; introducing us to and drawing out the worst in us. In much of culture itself; most notably of course the health & beauty industries. Simultaneously, young people decided fame was the only goal worth having and by any means possible. That brought us “influencers” and made that a real possibility, and behold, SM changed the metric for what “fame” was. It was all the result of a confluence of many things to the cultural zeitgeist, of course. But it seems a certain grace or piece of dignity was just sucked out of the atmosphere from then on. We’ve never recovered
it, and may never.
Anyway I’m so glad you survived mostly unscathed. But I’m so sorry about Vice, and the others falling by the wayside little by little, what a loss (OK Buzzfeed maybe not so much). But I’m glad you’re here!!