On the never-seen-on-D.C.-TVs reality show “Blonde Charity Mafia,” star Krista Johnson is depicted as a committed business partner at a chic Georgetown boutique.
But, like most reality television, that’s not exactly the reality.
Johnson, a business partner at the shop in name only, recently was fired from Julep (formerly We One You Too), and owner Daniel Rogers said it was because she improperly took three items.
“When we looked her up on Facebook, we saw that she was wearing those clothes,” Rogers told Yeas & Nays.
But Johnson tells a different story. The former employee said the three items were not stolen, but were being held for her under a personal layaway plan. She said employees were allowed to use items and then pay for them in installments.
“The dresses that I had in my possession that were not paid for were based on personnel policy, and they were going to be paid for, so I paid for them last week because I wasn’t at the store anymore,” Johnson told Yeas & Nays.
But Rogers says it isn’t so, and that Johnson reimbursed the shop via money order for her clothing on March 8, after she was fired on March 5.
A former employee who started in 2009 said Johnson was not in the wrong. That former employee also said she paid for items in installments, often giving her first payment one or two months from purchase.
Johnson and Rogers had worked together at the boutique-turned-consignment shop for almost three years.
“We were business partners, we butted heads all the time,” Johnson said. Just last year, Johnson was demoted from partner to saleswoman.
When Yeas & Nays initially called for comment, Rogers was heard in the background yelling, “Liar, liar, liar.”
Rogers did not mention if a police report was filed about the incident — neither did Johnson.
When asked about Johnson’s future, Rogers said, “Whatever she is doing is fine with me, I just don’t want that woman in my store again.”
There won’t be much of a chance for an again — Rogers is closing Julep once the lease is up so he can focus more on his work as a stylist at the George Bacchus Salon & Spa.
And, in case things weren’t weird enough, within hours of speaking with the two, Johnson sent Yeas & Nays a text message saying, “[Daniel] now wishes he didn’t say anything” and asked if he could call for a retraction.
Episodes of “Blonde Charity Mafia” can be found online on Tommy McFly of MIX 107.3’s blog http://mix1073fm.com/article.asp?id=1708254&SPID=17652. The show also stars Katherine Kennedy and Sophie Pyle.
