Famed celebrity makeup artist and Wowlebrity Billy B –considered one of the best in the biz– is in the position of defending his own work. A former assistant, Tara Savelo, has been leading people to believe that for work he did for Lady Gaga was hers.
E! Online posted a story crediting her with the singer’s most famous looks (below) and it says that Gaga “met” Savelo on the set of the Bad Romance video, for which Billy was hired to do the makeup.
“By Tara positioning herself [for supposedly cultivating those looks], she’s insinuating those were her creations. For people to read that she’s responsible for the look, no. This is all I’ve got, and I’m proud of it. This is not gonna happen, girl.”
Billy, who has beat the famous faces of Sharon Stone, Britney, Mary J. Blige and many others, says that Savelo shadowed him on sets from 2009-11. Savelo is no longer working for Gaga, but she doesn’t seem to be correcting the mistaken impression that she originated some of Gaga’s signature looks either.
“I’m not mad, frankly. I’m hurt and disappointed that she would do that to herself. She knew what she was doing. I’ve created many iconic looks for many people, and the reason I could not let this go is because never before in my career has there been such a perfectly clear, bookended period of time that I consistently worked with an artist to create and cultivate so many looks. There’s a beauty to that, the magic that was that period was a collaboration.”
While they collaborated on all her shows and projects, Billy says, he was there “every day,” and Gaga’s talent inspired him to do some of his best work:
“She worked her ass off and can sing. I did the ‘Fame Monster’ album cover, the ‘Telephone’ video, the ‘Born This Way’ video. I did her for SNL, a Rolling Stone cover, many photo shoots. I was with her a full two years from 2009-11.”
Gaga and Billy parted ways –not due to a conflict but– because Gaga refreshes her look with each album. A source close to her camp tells The Daily News:
“Gaga is an artist. Her looks are always changing, so of course she doesn’t stay with the same team forever. She is like Madonna that way. She wants to keep things fresh.”
Savelo did not reply to a request for comment from The Daily News. (via The Daily News)
The post #Controversy: Lady Gaga’s Former Makeup Guru, Billy B Defends His Work Against An Ex-Assistant appeared first on World of Wonder.