Celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton previously claimed his highest fee was $100,000 USD (AU$138,000), but he was lying.
“It was $200,000 (AU$275,000),” he revealed on the ‘Great Company with Jamie Long’ podcast this week. “But I said 100 thousand because I was afraid of what everyone would say. I said it, and then I was scared.”
Appleton, 42, defended the eye-watering figure by explaining that, “there’s plenty of times I do work for free. There’s plenty of times I don’t get paid that amount of money.”
Appleton, who tends to Kim Kardashian’s tresses, broke down the sum.
“It was a lot of travelling, and it was a whole commitment,” he said. “So when you break it down, it’s not as much.
“Also, 50 per cent tax in America – that’s half. And then your agent takes 20 per cent, and your business manager takes five.”
He offered a similar explanation back in January on the “U Up?” podcast, pointing out that his net earnings shrink considerably after taxes and other deductions.
Appleton, who has styled Kardashian’s hair for the Met Gala, recently came under fire from the Skims founder for her 2022 look, when she donned a dress Marilyn Monroe wore and had her hair dyed blond and slicked back.
In a vlog for this year’s final fitting, Kardashian, 45, reflected on that day
“We had too much going on. You were doing every family member,” she admonished Appleton and makeup artist Mario Dedivanovic. “We weren’t focused.”
Pulling up a photo, Kardashian deadpanned, “Everyone f—ked up here. Let’s just say that.”
As Appleton and Dedivanovic poked fun at each other’s questionable choices — from eyeliner to hairstyle — Kardashian weighed in: “It was all about the hair. I’ll fight you on that until the day I die.”
“I think about it once a week,” the reality star confessed.
At the time, Appleton shared that he loved the lighter locks.
“I love a blonde Kim. I think it’s so interesting how a colour can change the colours of the clothes you wear and it really changes your makeup.
“You can really reinvent things,” he told E! News.
This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission.