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Lady Gaga Sued By Former Assistant

Posted on Dec 27th 2011 12:00PM by Sarah Chazan
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Lady Gaga tax returnsGF/Bauer-Griffin

Lady Gaga may have just been voted one of the most charitable stars around ... but according to a former employee, Mother Monster is far less giving when it comes to her own staff! Jennifer O'Neill, Gaga's old personal assistant, filed a lawsuit against the singer last week claiming LG owes her hundreds of thousands of dollars in back pay.

O'Neill, who joined Gaga on her Monster's Ball tour, alleges in the suit that there were no breaks for meals "or, at times, even sleep," and that she was forced to be on call at the "earliest waking hour" or for "spontaneous, random matters in the middle of the night."

All those hours (7,168 to be exact) added up to a lot of overtime, money that O'Neill claims she was never paid. In papers filed in Manhattan federal court, O'Neill is suing the Gaga's Mermaid Touring company for $380,000 in unpaid overtime.

Aside from the money, the irate assistant is also seeking additional damages for her treatment while on the star's payroll.

Horror stories from Gaga's former employees is nothing new. In the book 'Poker Face: The Rise and Rise of Lady Gaga,' another personal assistant, Angela Ciemny, claims she was required to sleep with LG many nights because the diva hated to be alone. Ciemny also alleges that Gaga hopped into the shower with her on numerous occasions.

As for this newest lawsuit, Gaga's camp released a statement calling the lawsuit "completely without merit."


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397 Comments

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igotplans2

Sounds far from the glamorous life for anyone concerned. You're the top recording artist in the world, but so overbooked and lonely that you need assistants 24/7 to toil for you and share your bed and shower.

December 30 2011 at 5:26 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
shieldfreakkya

you get hundreds of thousands of dollars, you get to travel, and meet famous celebrities. Pretty much paid to be her best friend. and you bitch about it. I'll take that job if no one else wants it. lol

December 30 2011 at 2:07 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Heather

Are you kidding? Which part of this lawsuit is the bad part? Sounds like a dream job to me.

December 29 2011 at 2:07 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Sue Smith

As an agent for celebrity personal assistants, I can tell you that overtime should have been discussed before work started.

December 28 2011 at 10:58 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Princess Goddess

It isn't any of my business if Lady Gaga owes one of her assistants money. If her assistant was to tell me this if I was to work for Lady Gaga, I'd thank them for the warning, and heed the warning. Plus, I could careless who sleeps in the same bed with Lady Gaga and who showers with her. I happen to find a lot of thing's like this about celebrities total nonsense, very shallow, and sometimes totally bogus.

December 28 2011 at 9:20 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Princess Goddess's comment
Princess Goddess

forgot to add *former* in front of assistants and assistant.

December 28 2011 at 9:35 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ghetto Cat

These people sound like personal prostitutes.

December 28 2011 at 7:35 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
woodcutter100

if the assistant had a contract , that spelled out overtime in specifics otherwise unless she was holding a gun to her head , forget it

December 28 2011 at 7:24 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to woodcutter100's comment
kvh32055

That is so true dude. Sort of like Lindsey Lohan is supposed to be held to the same standards and punishments the rest of us would be if we were repeatedly busted for drugs, shoplifting, and being a skank in public.

December 28 2011 at 8:47 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
riftgirl2011

I think people are very shallow who make comments like" this is the real world"...and "did she think it was going be 8 hour days?"....and all those things. The reality is that this person went to work for someone because she was made to think she was going to be OK and treated fairly...just like most of us expect to be treated on our jobs. Think of the things she had to tolerate in order to maintain her job and the consequences of quitting an employer like Lady Gagme? This woman is brave to step forward and reveal this creep for what happens behind closed doors. We are not surprised but, let's not attack a person who given the circumstances tried to salvage her career and deal with an uncomfortable situation that most of us don't have a clue about.How many of you have been the PA to a Super Celebratory? and ...OH that is what I thought.

December 28 2011 at 7:22 AM Report abuse -2 rate up rate down Reply
3 replies to riftgirl2011's comment
codfather4u

THIS GAGA CRAP IS A FREEK AND IS A PIECE OF CRAP JUST LOOK AT THAT THING SHES A WHACO

December 28 2011 at 7:19 AM Report abuse -1 rate up rate down Reply
lottydotte

it's called "POWER TRIP"...

December 28 2011 at 7:19 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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