Why did the Kardashians fire their longtime makeup artist Joyce Bonelli?

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The Kardashian-Jenners have fired another influential behind-the-scenes person in their entourage. I got such a spooky sense of deja vu with this story, I had to look it up to see why it felt so familiar: in late April 2017, there were a lot of whispers and tabloid shadiness about the Kardashians firing their influential stylist Monica Rose. I remember that it felt like Monica Rose did something very specific to piss off Khloe Kardashian, and then Kim and Kourtney followed Khloe’s lead. We never really found out why Monica Rose had that falling out with the clan. And now, mysteriously, it seems that the family has had a falling out with their longtime makeup artist Joyce Bonelli.

The Kardashians have parted ways with their longtime makeup artist Joyce Bonelli, a source tells Us Weekly exclusively.

“The family doesn’t speak to her anymore,” the insider says. “She hasn’t worked for them for months.”

The decision was made amicably, though. The source assures Us, “They just stopped working with her because they didn’t see it as a right fit anymore.” No one from the Kardashian-Jenner family follows Bonelli on Instagram anymore, but there are no signs of bad blood on the 36-year-old’s account. She sent a birthday wish to Khloé, 34, on Wednesday, June 27.

[From Us Weekly]

That was the initial story from Us Weekly – they broke the story, from what I saw. Then People Magazine confirmed it, with a shady new layer:

A source who knows Bonelli and the Kardashians tells PEOPLE that things actually turned sour late last year, when Bonelli allegedly “tried to go around them on a deal so the Kardashians wouldn’t make money off of it. They caught on and Kim stopped following her, but Khloé and Joyce remained amicable” until they severed ties, too.

“Joyce would conveniently fly out of town for big Kardashian parties so people wouldn’t catch on,” the source adds. “And after Kim and her parted ways, she would upload pictures of Kim and call Kim her ‘twin.’ Joyce also claims she came up with the tagline for Kanye’s hit ‘that s— cray,’ which is a lie. The Kardashians were just over her lies and the trying to cheat them out of money was the cherry on top.”

Since rising to fame, the Kardashian-Jenners have added a crew of other makeup artists to their glam squads besides Bonelli, including Mario Dedivanovic (who collaborated with Kim on a KKW Beauty makeup collection), Hrush Achemyan, Ariel Tejada and Patrick Ta.

As of last year, Bonelli’s relationship with the family was so strong, she referred to them as her “sisters” and said they texted one another “every other day,” in a June 2017 interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

[From People]

What do you think? It feels like the current narrative is being driven by Kardashian-Jenner sources. It would be interesting to hear what Joyce had to say – I mean, if she was claiming to have come up with some of the “catchphrases” used on the show, I would be willing to hear her out. Because the Kardashians LOVE to appropriate and take credit for other people’s work and ideas. Then again, it’s just a dumb catchphrase, so who knows. Also: Kim uses different people on a daily basis, but I’m pretty sure she’s really close to makeup-maven Charlotte Tilbury too, right?

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Photos courtesy of Getty.

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45 Responses to “Why did the Kardashians fire their longtime makeup artist Joyce Bonelli?”

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  1. wheneight says:

    Omg I’ve been wondering about this so much since I saw this. Joyce used to be ALL over all of their social media and then suddenly . . . nothing. Something definitely happened.

    Also right after this story broke, Joyce posted a picture on Instragram of her in a robe (?) that said “F*ck with me I dare you.” You KNOW she has tea on that whole family, so I take that as her warning the K klan not to trash her or she’ll spill. Very interesting. Hope she spills!

    • Clare says:

      If she was going to spill she would have done already – especially if they blocked her from making her own $

      My guess is, either she has an iron clad NDA or she hasn’t got anything nasty to say. Kris is evil but not stupid – I very much doubt she would allow someone so far into the inner circle (and their show/social media) without an NDA to protect them.

      • Bridget says:

        No. If she spills, she’s potentially wrecking her career. Makeup artists are in a really intimate setting with the people they work on, and it would make people think twice about hiring her if they knew she was going to blab. Professionally it’s in her best interest not to say anything.

    • madlibby says:

      there was a blind item recently saying they long suspected she was involved in the parisian robbery involving kim, and finally they found enough of a smoking gun (?) to fire her after long held suspicions.

    • em says:

      Another gossip site said some time ago that they split with a ‘close employee’ because they had been selling gossip on them to magazines. Maybe she originally sold the gossip with the approval of the Klan but then decided to cut them out of the deals and that’s what nailed her coffin shut.

  2. Loopy says:

    The Kardashians just hate it when anyone in their circle starts making their own moves which is ironic considering the ammount of people Kim has stepped on to get to where she is.

  3. Snowflake says:

    Annoys me how Kim purses her lips in pictures. It’s so silly

    • Beth says:

      I don’t know what looks worse, Kim posing with duck lips or her posing with pursed opossum or anteater lips. Maybe she could just smile a human smile instead

      • PodyPo says:

        And when there are three of them lined up all doing it, li’s ridiculous looking.

  4. Clare says:

    Shady as the K’s may be, it’s unlikely most people would know who Bonelli is had she not had the platform of their tv show – I mean there are so many amazingly talented make up artists out there working for and with the biggest stars, but most remain largely unknown.

    I agree that the K’s take credit for other people’s work all the time, but so do most other celebs who employ creatives, stylists, speechwriter etc.

    I feel like Kim either has crazy iron clad NDA’s, or is actually pretty nice, because rarely does anyone she worked with say anything bad about her, and this goes back to before she had enough power/money to demand iron clad NDA’s

    • HadleyB says:

      No one said anything bad about Cosby either for years…and so many others.

      So yeah, she’s “nice”. I believe she would sell her own kids ( oh wait she does already) and her mother for her gain. Luckily for Kris she is the one making them famous she is ok ..for now. When she becomes less useful to her..and she will someday… I expect we will hear ALL about this family and what the did, what was done and shake our heads.

      • bella says:

        Yeah, she is already selling/exploiting her kids…

      • me says:

        I think Kris will write a “tell all” book one day about the “behind the scenes of their show” and finally spill the beans about EVERYTHING…but only once she knows their “15 minutes” are truly up and she can’t profit off the kids or grandkids anymore.

      • Lurker says:

        How is she selling her kids?? And just because she posts pics of her kids doesn’t mean she’s exploiting them, she’s just a mom showing off pics of her adorable kids.

    • sid says:

      Kim is very much known for being “nice and charming” with everyone who works with her in any capacity. I put those words in quotes because as it was told to me, it’s the sort of “nice and charming” borne out of knowing that it’s easier to get what you want if people like you. When I was told this, it reminded me of the feeling I got at an event where Bill Clinton was in attendance. Everyone was just gushing over how charming he was. Meanwhile all I could think was that the guy came off as phony as they come.

  5. Slowsnow says:

    It’s funny how the guys in the header picture look human whereas the women look like dolls.
    And it’s not only in parties or soirées. I often see in public transportation guys who will have waxed their eyebrows, shaved, moisturised (perhaps a little bit of foundation but rarely) and girls with caked on make-up, long take nails, fake lashes, etc, a whole doll-like paraphernalia that completely changes them – in my eyes, of course this is a personal opinion.
    I draw the line where I no longer see skin. I love skin with all its imperfections, lines, etc.
    [Of course I understand people with serious skin conditions wanting to conceal it but that’s another issue and it happens to both men and women.]

    • kellybean says:

      Really? You think the men look human? The man in blue, at the top, does not look normal, in my opinion. The only one that looks somewhat “normal” is the blonde makeup artist. Yes, she is wearing a shitload of makeup but you can see that she hasn’t done anything to her face surgically or with fillers.

    • nb says:

      I ate at a restaurant last night and the hostess, she looked about 22 or so, was pretty and had great skin but was wearing so much foundation it was distracting. She also had on shiny black winged eyeliner, super long and obvious fake lashes and bright red lipstick. Her uniform was a tank top and jeans because it’s a casual brewery type atmosphere so her makeup looked really out of place. I could see my father in law just kind of staring at her in awe (he’s 80).

      I kind of want more natural looking makeup to come back instead of the heavy instagram makeup. It might be cute in pics or for a night out on the town but day to day it’s just a lot. I mean, if you like it rock it, but that doesn’t mean it’s always appropriate or looks good to other people. This is coming from someone who LOVES makeup and has drawers full of high end makeup. I just prefer a more natural look.

      • TheVoice says:

        Whenever I see exaggerated makeup like that, I immediately think of the people in the Capital as in from The Hunger Games books/movies. Maybe we are headed in that direction as people think they need more and more outlandish looks to stand out. Given where we’re going, can you imagine where we’ll be in another 20-30 years?

  6. Valiantly Varnished says:

    The phrase “that s*it cray” is a from the album Kanye did with Jay-Z, Watch the Throne. That was 2011. Kanye and Kim didn’t start dating until 2012. So if she is claiming that she came up with that line she’s a liar. That’s literally a Kanye lyric from the biggest hit off that album.

    • gatorbait says:

      Where can I get in line for my piece of the “that sh*t cray” pie? We were saying that in high school back in the late 90’s.

      • me says:

        Stop it ! Don’t you know the Kardashians invented everything ! We must bow down to their greatness.

  7. MissKittles says:

    Joyce has been around for awhile tho. She was on Girls Next Door as Holly’s makeup artist & on Holly’s spin off. She’s definitely been on the celeb scene long before the K’s came around.

  8. Bridget says:

    Are the Kardashians physically incapable of NOT trying to destroy someone’s reputation when they’re done working with them?

  9. me says:

    Isn’t it funny that EVERYONE always does the Kardashians “wrong”. It’s oddly never the other way around huh? Please.

  10. Mo' Comments Mo' Problems says:

    The Kardrabshians have really been cleaning house, huh?! First, Monica Rose. Then Kim’s personal assistant Steph Shep. Now, Joyce? Who’s next? Whoever has the tea needs to spill it.

  11. Mar says:

    Everyone in that picture looks plastic

  12. Pandy says:

    Apparently, she started her own make up line. Dun dun duuuuunnnnnn …. there’s the smoking gun. Removing food from duck lips!

  13. Miss M says:

    With the K family… I think it is either about money or about her saying things behind their back…

  14. Sympathic Suz says:

    mm, I’m going to team K on this one, like others have stated its not in her best interest to blab & I do not think for one second they don’t share their success. Mario has benefited greatly, as well as many others (hrush, ariel). They pay them all well! and put them on the map, change their lives even.
    Monica Rose was let go because Khloe suspected someone in her group was stealing, she was let go and the stealing stopped. SO? was she wrong. ALSO -Monica has continued to work with Chrissy Teigen and many others. So – As much as we all love a Kardashian tale of hate, its weird that people that do actually know them, never have anything bad to say.

  15. Jenns says:

    I remember when they let go of their stylist, Monica Rose, and it was rumored she was stealing or charging things and keeping the clothing. Remember when Kim was Brandy’s stylist and the Norwood family sued Kim (and also blamed Khloe and Kourtney) for charging things to their card without permission? I wonder if it takes one to know one?

    • me says:

      I remember that. They settled out of court (which makes me believe Kim and her family knew they wouldn’t win the court case).

    • jwoolman says:

      Yes, Kim and her sisters charged more than a million dollars worth of items for themselves on that client’s credit card before she caught on. It was Brandy’s mother whose credit card was abused.

      Between that and Kim’s seriously pathological lying – anybody should be very careful around them, especially Kim. Honesty isn’t something turned on and off like a faucet.

      But yes, Kim may very well know how to spot thieves, because she’s been one. But she also lies, so who knows?

  16. PodyPo says:

    That’s a bunch of scary-looking women right there.
    Such silly looking pursed lips…

  17. Whattajabroni says:

    I doubt they were great friends to begin with. The Ks seem like those girls who are nice to your face but talk shit and spread your business when you aren’t around.

  18. aenflex says:

    They look bloody ridiculous pursing their lips and posing like that. FFS just stop.

  19. raincoaster says:

    I can’t see the Tilbury influence on the Kardashians, not at all. Tilbury doesn’t do that ridiculous spackling on with the spider eyelashes that they do; she’s much more “polished natural”.

    But maybe they just got rid of this artist because she does the heavy contour thing and they want a different look now?