Kim Kardashian is catching heat over what many have called “tone deaf” comments about work ethic.
The 41-year-old reality star made the remarks during a recent interview with Variety, in which she and her family discussed their respective business ventures and shared some tips for others who were looking to succeed.
“I have the best advice for women in business,” Kim said. “Get your fucking ass up and work. It seems like nobody wants to work these days. You have to surround yourself with people that want to work. Have a good work environment where everyone loves what they do, because you have one life. No toxic work environments.”
Many Twitter users slammed Kim’s advice as “out of touch,” and reminded readers that she and her siblings were born into a position of financial privilege. Others also pointed out that Kim was sued last year for allegedly violating labor laws. The complaint was filed by seven former members of Kim’s gardening and maintenance staff, who claim they were denied meal breaks and overtime pay, as well as subjected to other mistreatments. Representatives for Kim have denied the allegations, suggesting a third-party hiring company was to blame.
Shortly after the “work” comments went viral, Jessica DeFino took to Twitter to detail her experience working with the Kardashian family.
“I was an editor on the Kardashian apps in 2015 in LA,” she claimed, “[I] worked days night & weekends, could only afford groceries from the 99 Cents Only Store, called out ‘sick’ more than once bc I couldn’t put gas in my car to get to the office,” DeFino continued. She also said that she was “reprimanded for freelancing on the side.”
Within hours of posting, DeFino’s tweet had garnered more than 33,000 retweets and over 228,000 likes.
You can check out the Kardashian’s full Variety video above as well as more reactions to Kim’s work “advice” below.
