She may have divorced Donald Trump, but Marla Maples is still married to the perks of their previous life together.
Tricia Kelly, a freelance hairstylist in Washington, D.C., told the The Washington Post that she was contacted by a longtime client with connections to the Trump family asking if she would do Maples’s and her daughter Tiffany Trump’s hair on Inauguration Day.
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After back-and-forth negotiations, Kelly agreed to style both women for $200 — a figure that’s considerably less than her normal rate, which includes a $150 travel fee in addition to the charges for her regular services.
The two Trumps reportedly had a $300 budget for their inauguration beauty prep.
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But before any confirmation was made, Kelly says she was contacted by Maples’s assistant who offered “exposure” on her employer’s social media channels in return for free services.
“I was stunned,” Kelly said. “I told them… I work for a fee, not for free.”
She called Maples’s behaviour “entitled” and said that although she tries to remain non-partisan, since she has both Democrat and Republican clients, she felt she needed to go public with this story.
“There are people who make far less than they do who pay full price,” she said. “People on staff — the incoming White House and the outgoing one — pay full price. It seemed like they were trying to see how much they could get for free based on their names.”
While ethics laws prevent the incoming president, his wife and his minor-aged son from accepting gifts over $300, those same rules do not apply to Maples and her daughter.
After refusing to work for free, Kelly said she was then contacted by her client, Maples’s friend, with the following foreboding message: “You are messing with the president of the United States.”
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The client went on to explain that Maples is worried for her future since her child-support payments ended when Tiffany graduated from college.
“She is used to a certain lifestyle and you don’t understand that,” she wrote.
The social media response to the allegations are as vociferous and acerbic as could be expected.
While at least one Twitter user asked the burning question that’s on everyone’s mind:
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