Marla Maples has hair. She would like it be styled nicely for her ex-husband’s big Inauguration Day spectacular. She would also like it if this coiffure mission (which also applies for her daughter Tiffany Trump) could be done in exchange for “exposure.” (Read: For free.) At least, that last bit is what freelance stylist Tricia Kelly said was the case when speaking with Maples and her camp about such an appointment.
Kelly told The Washington Post that this failed attempt at dealmaking actually happened and it left her stunned. The D.C. stylist was contacted by a longtime client about taking on Marla and Tiffany as clients for the big event. Things seemed to be alright at first, but things broke down over price. Apparently, the mother-daughter duo have a budget they want to stick to. Here’s what allegedly went down:
Kelly expressed her interest and she explained her rates — a $150 fee to travel in addition to the cost of her services — but Maples, through her assistant, balked. “I was told they had a $300 budget for both of them for hair and makeup,” Kelly says.
After some back and forth, Kelly agreed to be paid $200 total and a makeup artist $150 to get the women camera-ready. That’s when Maples’s assistant came up with another proposal: Would Kelly and the makeup artist be willing to provide their services for free? In exchange, they would get “exposure,” and Maples would mention them on her social-media feeds, the assistant told her.
For what its worth, it’s not as though the Better Business Bureau has advice on how much an Inauguration Day hairdo should cost. One imagines zero is frowned upon, though. Even with those valuable exposure dollars that go straight to the exposure bank.
Kelly says she’s received sinister messages from the client who first put her in touch with Maples and her people.
“You are messing with the president of the United States,” read one message. “I don’t think you realize the power my clients have. That your reputation could just as much be on the line.”
So if you see Marla Maples and Tiffany Trump wearing giant novelty Cat in the Hat hats on Inauguration Day, this might point to why. At present, a spokesperson for Maples has declined to comment on the Post‘s story.
(Via Washington Post)