Viral
Ex Kardashian App Worker Says She Couldn’t “Afford Food & Gas While Family Made Millions”
It is possible the sisters were unaware of what the people behind their apps were paid.
Jessica DeFino is now among the women who have slammed Kim Kardashian for her career advice. It will be recalled the business mogul had back in March, as shared by Variety in a now-viral clip, urged women to “get your f**king a** up and work.” She then added that it seems like nobody wants to work these days.”
Doubling down on the issue, Jessica, 32, has responded bluntly, saying she struggled to pay for food and gas while working for the Kardashian-Jenner apps.
Taking to Twitter, the Los Angeles-based, in a post published on March 9, alleged she had worked as an assistant editor on the Kardashian apps and in 2015 and worked days, nights, weekends, yet could only afford groceries from the 99 Cents Only Store. Jessica added she called out sick more than once because she couldn’t put gas in her car to get to the office and was even reprimanded for freelancing on the side.
I was an editor on the Kardashian apps in 2015 in LA, worked days nights & 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, & was reprimanded for freelancing on the side https://t.co/mzvnTomjS3
— Jessica DeFino (@jessicadefino_) March 9, 2022
Notably, she was an employee of Whalerock Industries, a digital media firm the Kardashian-Jenner clan brought on in May 2015 to create their apps.
Each of the sisters launched an app that featured exclusive content for paying subscribers and netted them millions of dollars before shutting down in 2019.
While Jessica admitted the sisters were likely unaware of what the people behind their apps were paid, she elaborated on her experience in another post for Vice, titled: “I Worked My A** Off For The Kardashian-Jenner Apps. I Couldn’t Afford Gas.” In the article, Jessica claimed she made an annual salary of $35K and ended up with just over $600 weekly in her bank account after taxes. This amount could barely cover the costs of food, rent, bills, and gas.
The ex-employee shared she had also spoken with other employees of a Kardashian enterprise, and they claimed they were overworked and underpaid.
One of the employees [name withheld] told VICE they had worked all the time, didn’t sleep enough, drank way too much alcohol to deal with the stress, had their hair falling out, and, as a result, became physically unwell. Jessica equally alleged she suffered health issues due to work and financial stress at Whalerock, saying she also fell into a deep depression. Eventually, she left the company in 2016 after working for one year and three months.
However, a Whalerock spokesperson has reacted, insisting: “Jessica DeFino was an at-will employee of Whalerock for 14 months, seven years ago. Employees at her level were paid a base salary, plus overtime for any additional hours worked and were eligible for and received bonuses, and regular pay raises.”
Kim Kardashian has since apologized for her comment, saying she was taken out of context.
She stated: “It wasn’t a blanket statement towards women or to feel like I don’t respect the work or think that they don’t work hard. I know that they do. It was taken out of context, but I’m really sorry if it was received that way.” Some employees even claimed the Kardashians viewed themselves as America’s royal family and believed anyone would take any pay to work with them.
