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Image via WENN
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, 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.
34 days ago
[...] new media and science, to popular, not-so-thoughtful blogs that pen breathless posts about, oh, why a certain reality star-slash-Hollywood-super-stylist needs to stop bad-mouthing her former assis…. (And yes, I absolutely had to read that last one.) To gain even a dozen readers for a new blog [...]
ok so please tell me what and where is Brad, he seemed to be a great guy and hard worker…
Taylor actually can’t say anything about Rachel because as a former employee of a celebrity, she is under a confidentiality agreement–which Rachel knows and seems to be abusing. The only thing Taylor said in her own defense during the TvGuide interview (http://www.tvguide.com/News/Rachel-Zoe-Taylor-1021020.aspx ) I read was that she doesn’t even fit into sample sizes. That makes the fact that she was accused of stealing sample clothes seem pretty ridiculous to me. She was stealing clothes she can’t even wear?
Luckily, the same interview made it pretty clear that despite Rachel’s attempt at sabotage, Taylor has been getting consistent work since the break-up. Good for her.
Um, how much ya wanna bet Taylor is back on the show…say….midseason? Has no one considered this to be a publicity stunt? Even Rachel Zoe would know better than to badmouth…unless…she was given permission to badmouth that person in return for say a juicy part in her reality program…..just sayin….
I watched all of the seasons and Taylor was a saint! To put up with Rachel and Brad (who might be sweet, but a dunderhead) took such patience. I hope Taylor is happy where she’s at now, and no longer being abused by Rachel.
Actually, former employers are NOT allowed to bad mouth former employees when called as a reference. That’s grounds for a lawsuit if it can be proven. If the former employer cannot explicitly recommend a former employee, the correct response is merely to acknowledge the time period in which he or she worked for the company. And to go public with accusations is for sure grounds to sue. Taylor is right to say nothing and if she’s smart, homegirl will lawyer up pronto.
Too far, Rachel! Too far. I seem to remember her not thinking Brad was such an angel when he first started…amirite? He got yelled at … a lot. Bottom line: I wouldn’t work for her. What’s the upside?