Celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton has come clean about his real asking price — and it is double what he originally let on.
Speaking on the Great Company with Jamie Long podcast, the 42-year-old stylist admitted that the highest fee he has ever charged was not the $100,000 figure he previously cited, but a staggering $200,000. He confessed that fear of public backlash led him to understate the amount.
“It was $200,000,” he revealed. “But I said 100 because I was afraid of what everyone would say. I said it, and then I was scared.”
Appleton was quick to offer context, stressing that the figure does not reflect his standard rate and that he frequently works for free or for significantly less. He also broke down how much of that headline number he actually takes home.
After 50 percent goes to U.S. taxes, his agent’s 20 percent commission, and a further five percent to his business manager, the net sum is a fraction of the gross. He made a similar point in January on the U Up? podcast, where he noted how dramatically his earnings shrink once deductions are factored in.
Beyond the fee controversy, Appleton has been in the headlines for a separate reason — his longstanding professional relationship with Kim Kardashian. The stylist has dressed her hair for multiple Met Galas over the years, but their 2022 collaboration has remained a sore point.
That was the year Kardashian wore a gown that once belonged to Marilyn Monroe and debuted a bleached-blonde, slicked-back hairstyle that later drew criticism — including from Kardashian herself.
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In a candid conversation, the Skims founder, now 45, held both Appleton and makeup artist Mario Dedivanovic accountable for the outcome.
“We had too much going on. You were doing every family member,” she told them. “We weren’t focused. Everyone f—ked up here. Let’s just say that.”
As the two stylists traded light-hearted jabs over their respective choices that evening — from eyeliner decisions to the hair direction — Kardashian made clear where she stood:
“It was all about the hair. I’ll fight you on that until the day I die.” She added that the memory still resurfaces regularly: “I think about it once a week.”
Appleton, for his part, stood by the blonde transformation at the time, saying he believed the colour suit Kardashian well.
“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 said.