Fashion Designer Exposes Greedy A-Listers Demanding Free Clothes: They Refuse to Pay

Celebrity fashion designer Kelly Nishimoto is throwing shade at A-listers who think their Hollywood status entitles them to free clothes. “I’ve had a few celebrities that just don’t like to pay,” she blasted on her “Hairbrush News” podcast.

She specifically called out Paula Abdul, stating that the pop star’s stylist requested to keep three pieces from her collection after wearing them on “American Idol.” Nishimoto was ready to send an invoice, but the stylist flipped the script, saying Abdul hoped to get the items as gifts.

“I’m like, she’s filming ‘American Idol’ for who knows how much she’s getting an episode,” Nishimoto ranted. “I’m over here struggling, can barely pay my rent and my employee — my one employee — and my one sewing lady, and you want me to give you a thousand dollars worth of the clothes for free?”

Instead of gifting the clothes, Nishimoto insisted that Abdul should pay for the items and cover an additional thousand dollars for dry cleaning the other pieces she lent. Once the stylist realized Abdul couldn’t keep the clothes without payment, all items were promptly returned.

Nishimoto found the entire situation “so tacky.” She didn’t stop there; she also accused Kate Hudson’s stylist of trying to score a free pair of leggings for the actress, despite Hudson having her own activewear brand, Fabletics.

“I thought, ‘Oh, well she can buy them. What would she like? And I will send over the invoice,’” Nishimoto recalled. “And then I never heard back. I mean, c’mon. Really?”

Despite her claims, fans rushed to defend Abdul and Hudson in the comments of her Instagram post. Designer Michael Costello stated, “Paula is exceptional. I say that not just because she’s a friend, but because she’s always conducted herself with professionalism. In fact, Paula has always paid in full for anything she’s ever worn from our company.”

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Celebrity makeup artist Ernesto Casillas added, “This is on the stylist, not the client. They don’t wanna chip into their own budget.”

Nishimoto posed a question in her podcast clip: “Straight-up now, tell me: do you think celebrities should still be asking for freebies?” She further questioned the tackiness of asking for free products while making prime-time TV money.

In February, after 22 years in business, Nishimoto announced she was shutting down her brand. “It’s time for me to move on and enjoy my family more and to work on some new ideas,” she stated, marking it as “the end of an era.”

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She reflected on her journey: “I have enjoyed all of the success, all of the failures, and all of the 22 years of lessons this business and 30 years of being a designer has brought me.”