The True Stories Behind the Highest-Paid Celebrity Assistants In Hollywood

It’s not a secret that the rich and famous usually have an army of people working for them. From stylists to housekeepers, the more in-demand a celebrity is, the more staff they usually have. Most celebrities couldn’t imagine their day without an assistant who knows their schedule, runs their errands and is there with them every step of their public and personal life.

Of course, being an assistant to a famous person is usually a very well-paid job, but it can often also be a very stressful one. These assistants know their celebrity clients inside and out, but what do they have to say about them? Without further ado, these are the true stories from the people who have helped some of your favorite celebs get through the day. These PAs truly run the world, just ask corporations like Disney!

Years Worked With Celebrity: 2021-present
Est. Salary: $70,000*

Popstar Britney Spears has certainly had trouble with finding the right people to be on her team, which is why fans are happy that her new personal assistant seems to be doing a great job. Victoria Asher started working for the singer at the end of 2021.

Victoria Asher - Britney Spears @ironmaiden22com/Pinterest

Asher is also known as Vicky T, and she is a musician who was the keytarist of the band Cobra Starship until they split in 2015. Asher was publicly introduced as Britney Spears’ new assistant at a Van Gogh exhibition in November 2021. Brit has wasted no time in gushing over her on Instagram, much to the delight of fans. 

Years Worked With Celebrity: Circa 2011-2013
Est. Salary: $85,000*

Hollywood star Brad Pitt has been in the industry since the early ’90s and over the years he had plenty of different people working on his team. When the actor was shooting the action-horror movie World War Z in 2011, his personal assistant was Lara Marsden.

Lara Marsden - Brad Pitt @dailymail/Pinterest

However, Mardsen left her position after she was in the spotlight thanks to being romantically linked to her boss. A source for New Idea alleged that it was Angelina Jolie who was also to blame as she “was always jealous of Lara. She was always suspicious that there was something going on between Brad and Lara.”

Years Worked With Celebrity: 9 days
Est. Salary: $0* 

Meet the woman responsible for Naomi Campbell’s infamous “Naomi Hit Me and I Loved It” shirt. The supermodel, who once said that being nice was “boring,” has been accused of hitting her employees ten times between the years of 1998 and 2008. In 2000, she pled guilty to charges that she assaulted Georgina Galanis, her P.A., by throwing a cell phone at her.

Georgina Galanis - Naomi Campbell ©Ron Adar/Shutterstock.com

Though Campbell didn’t face any jail time or a criminal record, Galanis filed a $2 million lawsuit against the supermodel for the attack in Toronto. In her lawsuit, Galanis said that she only worked for Naomi for nine days before the model hit her with a cell phone. 

Years Worked With Celebrity: 20
Est. Salary: $50,000-$100,000*

Elizabeth Taylor was the star of many classic Hollywood movies, including Cleopatra, The Flintstones, Little Women, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and more. By the time she passed away at the age of seventy-nine, she’d led a colorful life, having been married eight times. Her assistant, Tim Mendelson, worked for her for twenty years.

Tim Mendelson - Elizabeth Taylor @THRmag/Pinterest

The star trusted Mendelson a lot, making him the co-trustee of her estate. Mendelson said that Liz Taylor was the same glamorous icon we all saw on screen, and she even wore her diamonds around the house. He described her as a woman who “opened her heart” to everyone she cared about. 

Years Worked With Celebrity: 10
Est. Salary: $5,000-$15,000*

Betty Robin was Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe’s personal assistant for around ten years until she passed away in 1962. Though Monroe often had a reputation for diva antics on the set of movies, she was very kind to Robin, who saw her through the peak of her career.

Betty Robin - Marilyn Monroe ©Bettmann/Getty Images

According to Robin, Monroe led an isolated life, as she couldn’t find a reliable, solid circle of friends. She surrounded herself with people she paid, and all her friends were people who “worked for her.” Any friends she made while married to M.L.B. star Joe DiMaggio remained loyal to the professional athlete, not her, after their split, leaving the star alone except for Robin.

Years Worked With Celebrity: 5
Est. Salary: $25,000-$40,000*

Matt Harrell was Lindsay Lohan’s assistant for several years until she fired him in 2014, claiming she couldn’t afford to keep him on. Harrell stuck by Lohan through a lot of ups and downs, as the actress was notoriously troubled for a period in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Harrell was with Lohan through not one, not two, but six rehab stints.

Matt Harrell - Lindsay Lohan @OWN/Youtube

Harrell even helped Lohan work through her immense amount of clothing, jewelry, and shoes, saying that it was “impressive” how much stuff she had. The Mean Girls star had to do a major reduction when she was unable to rent an apartment because of her party girl reputation and had to live out of hotels.

Years Worked With Celebrity: 27
Est. Salary: $1 million*

The Martha Stewart Empire has been around for decades, and it requires a lot of people to keep it moving. Kevin Sharkey is one of Martha’s most loyal assistants, and he has been with the homemaking guru for twenty-seven years. He began working for her in the mid-1990s, and he stuck with her even through her legal troubles.

Kevin Sharkey - Martha Stewart @pquerin/Pinterest

It paid off, as Sharkey is the Executive Director of Design (EVP) for Martha Stewart Living. Kevin has collaborated with Martha on many projects for M.S.L., some of which have become the most memorable pieces in the company’s three-decade history.

Years Worked With Celebrity: 12
Est. Salary: $40,000-$60,000*

Mary Beth Brown was Elon Musk’s loyal, long-suffering assistant, and her relationship with Musk had been compared to the relationship between Marvel’s Tony Stark and Pepper Pots. If Musk worked a twenty-hour day, then Brown did too.

Mary Beth Brown - Elon Musk @maraazcom/Pinterest

That is, until Brown asked for a raise. She had worked for the eccentric billionaire for twelve years before deciding, in early 2014, to ask for a pay raise. Musk told her to take a few weeks off while he made the decision. After two weeks away, Musk fired Brown, saying that he realized, in her absence, that he didn’t really need her after all.

Years Worked With Celebrity: 8
Est. Salary: $35,000-$40,000*

Lena Dunham is best-known for her series Girls on HBO. She created, wrote, and starred in the series, though that is not her entire career. She is also a feminist activist and author, and she is never shy to speak her mind about issues that are important to her. She has a personal assistant to help her, and that assistant was even spotted feeding her while on the set of Girls.

Lena Dunham @ranker/Pinterest

We’re pretty sure that her lifting up the pizza for Dunham to take a bite was a joke, but people blew up over the scene, with some calling it demeaning to the assistant. Dunham likely has many people to help her with her books, social media, and media projects, and most fly under the radar. 

Years Worked With Celebrity: 2013-2017
Est. Salary: $65,000*

Stephanie Shepherd became reality television star Kim Kardashian’s assistant in 2013 and later she was promoted to the chief operations officer for Kardashian West Brands. In 2017 the two women parted ways and many believed that this was due to a feud.

Steph Shep - Kim Kardashian @ashrafebrahimfirst/Pinterest

However, Kim Kardashian set the record straight in 2018 when she revealed “You guys, we’ve never had a feud. She wanted to go in a different direction. I respect that. I love giving that encouragement to whoever I’m working with. Just because people stop working together, doesn’t mean that they’re feuding and stop being friends.”

Years Worked With Celebrity: 13
Est. Salary: $100,000*

If you’ve ever watched Conan before, then you know who Sona Movsesian is. She is the talk show host’s long suffering assistant, having worked for Conan for more than a decade. O’Brien often jokes about Sona’s lack of motivation, though we’re sure that, when off camera, she is keeping the place running like clockwork.

Sona Movsesian - Conan O'Brien @sonamov/Twitter

Reportedly, Movsesian makes around $100,000 per year. The P.A. has even branched from personal assisting into writing, publishing The World’s Worst Assistant with Dutton Books. Movsesian even got Conan to write a forward for her novel, which was probably quite hilarious and the two currently host a podcast together.

Years Worked With Celebrity: 2013
Est. Salary: $200,000*

Mariah Carey has been known as a diva in the industry so it’s not surprising that her assistant needs to be on top of their game. In 2013, Gilly Iyer was working for singer Jennifer Lopez but that year she switched to working for Mariah Carey.

Gilly Iyer - Mariah Carey ©Raymond Hall/Getty Images

Apart from the two ladies, Iver has also worked for Sony rapper Snoop Dogg so it’s safe to say that she has plenty of experience with A-list stars. Prior to working with the rich and famous, Gilly Iyer studied Sociology and Organizational Leadership. According to the assistant, her talents are social networking, publicity, and music publishing.

Years Worked With Celebrity:  2012-2015
Est. Salary: $50,000 per year*

Kate James worked with actress Amber Heard from 2012 to 2015, but it wasn’t James’ favorite job posting. Kate had over a decade of experience in the industry before she became Amber’s assistant, initially taking a huge pay cut and accepting just $25 per hour before it was raised to $50,000 per annum after a disagreement, according to James’ testimony during the Depp v Heard trial. 

Kate James - Amber Heard ©PA Images/Alamy

Kate further explained her duties during that period were extensive. “It’s everything you could possibly do to run someone’s life. It is grocery shopping, it is taking care of admin, it is running errands, it is getting the car fixed, it is getting the dogs groomed, it is picking up flowers, it is dealing with the decorator, it is dealing with the housekeeper,” she recalled. Eventually, the two parted ways.

Years Worked With Celebrity: 2010s-present
Est. Salary: $90,000*

Jennifer Lawrence had her big breakthrough in 2012 thanks to her portrayal of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games franchise. Since then, Lawrence established herself as an incredibly talented actress and she even won an Academy Award in 2013 for her role in Silver Linings Playbook.

Justine Ciarrocchi - Jennifer Lawrence ©David Livingston | ©Raymond Hall/Getty Images

The actress decided to hire her best friend as her assistant once she had her breakthrough, and when asked about it she said “Justine is with me. So it’s kind of like, this consistent thing in my life. I’m still doing what a 23-year-old should be doing, which is hanging out with my friend and being normal.”