Celebrity assistants reveal long shifts and lucrative social media followings

Victoria Hiegel, who cannot name her employer because of a nondisclosure agreement, spent 13 February ferrying Valentine’s Day cookies across Manhattan after being told her boss “doesn’t love chocolate.” She posted part of the search to TikTok and has since built roughly 1 million followers while carefully avoiding filming in her employer’s apartment or saying what they do for a living.

Hiegel is part of a growing cohort of private chefs, assistants and stylists who document the backstage work of celebrities on TikTok and Instagram. Videos show a mix of the extravagant and mundane — from a “six-step drink regimen” for a movie star to a $1,000 tip, eating Popeyes with Ray J, and even cleaning a camera lens — while other elements remain deliberately off camera.

For many, social media is a practical hedge against precarious service work: it creates an audience and potential opportunities beyond a single employer.

United States, Manhattan

celebrity assistants, private chefs, stylists, tiktok, instagram, nondisclosure agreement, manhattan, valentine's day, social media, followers