Kylie Jenner’s cosmetics empire shaken as ‘six senior employees laid off’ at factory after claims she lied about profits
KYLIE Jenner’s cosmetics fulfillment center, which manufactures her beauty products, has laid off around six senior employees amid a major shake-up of her multi-million dollar cosmetics empire, The Sun can exclusively reveal.
The lay-offs come after Kylie was accused of lying about her company’s profits by Forbes magazine and the CEO stepping down from the role.
The makeup mogul, who was accused by Forbes of lying about her wealth, sold a 51 percent stake in Kylie Cosmetics for $600million to consumer giant Coty in November, with the deal initially valuing the brand at $1.2 billion.
The appointed CEO of Kylie Cosmetics, Christoph Honnefelder, quit in April before he officially took on the role, citing “personal reasons,” and has since been replaced.
Now, The Sun has uncovered further changes for Kylie’s business operation – with layoffs at Seed Beauty, which partnered with Kylie in 2016 and has a 200,000-square-foot campus in Oxnard, California.
The reality star’s beauty line, minus Kylie Skin, is manufactured and packaged by Seed, which also creates Kim Kardashian’s make-up line, KKW Beauty, and the popular brand Colourpop.
A source exclusively told The Sun: “Most of the senior management has been laid off from the Seed Beauty side of Kylie Cosmetics.
“Around six members of staff, who also dealt with other brands, were let go less than two months ago, including the Vice President of Manufacturing and other high paid employees.
“They were told it was because of the pandemic, but everyone had been expecting a shake-up after the Coty acquisition.”
During lockdown, Kylie has been flaunting her wealth on Instagram, amid reports she has blown through $130million in recent months, splashing her cash on real estate deals, private jets and designer clothes.
She recently plunked down an eye-watering $36.5million on a compound in Holmby Hills and is regularly seen posing in a bikini by the pool at the lavish home.
The insider said: “Some of the staff who lost their jobs were there for years, back to the sales of the first lip kits when Kylie was building her empire from the ground up.
“It is what it is I guess, they don’t really hold a grudge, and they were Seed employees working for Kylie, but all layoffs are disappointing.”
Kylie is believed to visit Seed Beauty around “once a quarter” to check in on the graphic design, manufacturing and fulfillment teams, as well as to film scenes for Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
She is more often at her large plush office in Calabasas, close to her extravagant homes, which is also frequently featured on the E! reality show.
Back in March this year, Forbes declared the reality TV star had become the world’s youngest self-made billionaire at 21, but has since stripped her of the title after they claimed to have exposed what they called her “web of lies”.
The publication claims Kylie, now 22, actually pocketed an estimated $340million after taxes from the Coty sale, and her business is a lot smaller than they initially believed.
Reporters Chase Peterson-Withorn and Madeline Berg claimed: “Forbes has recalculated Kylie’s net worth and concluded that she is not a billionaire.
“A more realistic accounting of her personal fortune puts it at just under $900million, despite the headlines surrounding the Coty deal that seemed to confirm her billionaire status.”
Kylie’s net worth still puts her at the top of its annual highest-paid celebrity ranking.
In 2016, business was booming for Kylie, who was selling a staggering 60,000 units per day, according to an insider.
The source claims approximately 15 employees still work for Kylie at Seed Beauty, not including a number of manufacturing operators on the factory floor.
The fulfillment center remains closed amid the COVID-19 outbreak, and The Sun understands the 600 plus workforce are furloughed, while senior staff are working from home.
Those who have been laid off permanently will not be rehired when the factory opens up again in coming weeks and received severance pay, according to sources – while some have already found new employment.
“Despite the factory closing due to the pandemic, it’s no secret new leadership wants to see change at Kylie Cosmetics, it’s likely Coty will be in charge of hiring new staff,” the source said.
It has been reported Kylie could face an investigation by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) after it was claimed she ‘likely forged her tax returns’.
The SEC investigations are conducted confidentially to “protect evidence and reputations,” and their Office of Public Affairs declined to comment.
Asked if there is any ongoing investigation, a rep for Kylie told The Sun this week: “She has not received any notices, and she did not forge her tax return, it was real.”
Kylie and her family have slammed claims they falsified tax returns, with the E! reality star left stunned by the report, taking to Twitter to hit out at the wealth publication.
The mom-of-one blasted: “what am i even waking up to. i thought this was a reputable site.. all i see are a number of inaccurate statements and unproven assumptions lol.
“i’ve never asked for any title or tried to lie my way there EVER. period … ‘even creating tax returns that were likely forged’ that’s your proof?
”so you just THOUGHT they were forged? like actually what am i reading .. but okay … i am blessed beyond my years, i have a beautiful daughter, and a successful business and i’m doing perfectly fine. [sic]”
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Kylie’s lawyer is also demanding Forbes take down their story, saying in a statement: “We have reviewed Forbes’ article accusing Kylie of engaging in deceit and a ‘web of lies’ to inflate her net worth. The article is filled with outright lies.
“Forbes’ accusation that Kylie and her accountants ‘forged tax return’’ is unequivocally false and we are demanding that Forbes immediately and publicly retract that and other statements.”
The Sun has reached out to Coty, which declined to comment, while Seed Beauty was unavailable.
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