You may think that being a celebrity’s assistant is glamorous all the time, but these hard-working people sometimes have to do weird things to please their bosses. So the next time your boss asks you to do something outside your normal work-related duties, think about these strange requests that celebrity assistants have to deal with.
An executive producer of a major news show asked his assistant to go to his house and have conversations with his cats. Not content with his assistant’s conversational skills, the producer provided his assistant with scripts of what to say and “ask” the cats. As a follow up, the producer asked the assistant to report on how the cats responded to the conversation.
One Hollywood assistant was screamed at by her boss because the butter that came with lunch was too warm. From now on, one of her tasks was to feel the butter to make sure that it was the proper temperature.
One of Frank Sinatra’s butler’s daily tasks was to spray cover-up on his boss’ bald spot.
Supermodel Naomi Campbell asked her assistant to distribute and light lily-scented candles throughout her hotel suites when she was on the road. The requirements were very specific: five in the bathroom, ten in the bedroom and ten in the living room.
Beyoncé is also a candle fan, but they must be rose-scented.
According to Radar Online, Martha Stewart asks her assistants to color the soles of her Christian Louboutin shoes with a black Sharpie. Christian Louboutin shoes, which cost between $695 and $6,000, are famous for their red soles.
Actor Christian Bale is famous not only for his acting but for his on-set temper tantrums. So you can imagine how he might act with his assistant. Bale’s publicist and personal assistant said that the actor asked him to sniff his armpits before he went onto the red carpet to make sure he didn’t have body odor.
Beyoncé’s nanny claims that she was required to learn and perform all of the choreography from her boss’ Single Ladies video so she could perform it on command for the singer’s daughter, Blue Ivy.
Actress Cheryl Hines admitted to asking her assistant to do “terrible things.” This included cleaning the cages of her daughter’s pets including two guinea pigs, a gecko, a hamster, two turtles and a hedgehog.
No, this isn’t a “Me Too” story. Lady Gaga’s personal assistant sued the pop star for hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid overtime and alleged that she was asked to be physically with her boss 24/7, including sleeping in bed with her.
Pop diva Mariah Carey has a reputation for being petulant and employing a small army of assistants and helpers. Among the tasks she asks of them are to wash her hair, heat things up in the microwave and walk backwards in front of her, ready to catch her if she falls off her high heels.
When Kanye West is slated to perform, he has a raft of unusual requests. He insists on having a barber’s chair in his dressing room, shower shoes and plenty of alcohol, including a 750 ml bottle of Hennessey liquor, a 750 ml bottle of SKY or Absolut Vodka, a bottle of Patron Silver tequila and four six packs of Heineken beer.
Popular singer Rihanna needs to have the proper ambiance in her dressing room, with dark blue or black drapes layered with icy blue chiffon on top. She also insists on an animal print plush throw rug, candles with archipelago black forest scent and four small, clear square vases with white tulips.
Rock ‘n roll legend Paul McCartney is a huge animal rights’ supporter. That is why he has banned all clothing, furniture and even limo seats made with leather and other animal products. He takes it so far that he can’t abide by even artificial animal skin or print. He is a plant lover, though, and requests six leafy floor plants, (but no trees) as well as multiple flower arrangements.
You might expect some whacky requests from comedian Will Ferrell, and you’d be right. On his promo tour for “Semi-Pro,” he asked for a rainbow (which could be painted on canvas) mounted on wheels, a flight of stairs on wheels (to climb the rainbow?) and a fake tree on wheels. In addition to these mobile stage props, Ferrell wanted to be on wheels himself and requested an electric three wheel mobility scooter.
For Justin Bieber’s India tour, he insisted on having an Indian yoga casket with aromatic essential oils of jasmine, morgra, rose and camphor incense sticks. Apparently, the pop star is a big yoga fan. In addition, his assistant had to oversee flying in ten containers with items like a ping pong table, sofa set, refrigerator, massage table, Playstation and washing machine. For transportation, his assistant would arrange a fleet of ten luxury sedans and two Volvo buses for his entourage and a Rolls Royce for Bieber himself.
When Christina Aguilera is on her way to perform, she absolutely abhors traffic. So her assistant must arrange to have a police escort to clear the traffic to and from the concert venues so that she doesn’t have to deal with any delays.
Singer and actress Selena Gomez was so distraught after her 2014 breakup with Justin Bieber that she declared that no one she worked with could have the name Justin. Since several of her crew members had the unlucky name, her assistant had to take care of giving them different names to answer to while they were on the job.
Justin Timberlake is so health conscious that his assistant had to disinfect the doorknobs in all backstage areas in venues in which he performed. Doorknobs in hotels in which he stayed had to be disinfected every two hours. Other quirky requests include needing to ride in the elevator all by himself and having the entire floor of the hotel to himself.
Jennifer Lopez likes a clean look. That’s why her assistant ensures that her dressing room must be all white. That includes the walls, flowers, tables and tablecloths, drapes, candles and couches.
It’s great to be an animal lover, but singer Joe Jonas takes it to an extreme. When he tours a city, his assistant is tasked with getting 12 puppies and bringing them to his dressing room. Jonas is definitely a dog person and often posts pics of himself cuddling adorable puppies on his Instagram account.