My celebrity boss is a lunatic I'm losing the plot

[Niceseasidetown]

My boss is a celebrity in our industry. Think: 100s of 1000s of social media followers, his own podcast...and all the ego that goes with that.

He is also rude (telling people their ideas are fucking shit), a huge micromanager and a bully. Everyone at work says this, not just me. His adoring fans don't see this side of him.

When I took the job he wasn't my boss. He fired my boss publicly saying he wasn't up to the job and now I have to work much more closely with the celebrity boss. My stress and anxiety are through the roof. I am criticised for everything and publicly. Literally not one thing is right (even obvious achievements). I'm mocked and ridiculed. I'm very experienced and well paid and in my 40s. I'm good at my job.

I'm obviously looking for a new job.

Spoke to HR who just sighed and said he is like that. He owns the company.

How do I cope. I feel on the edge of a breakdown. I also have to manage a team who he undermines me in front of.

Literally every hour is miserable and terrifying.

I can't do anything legally or practically. I need emotional coping tips because I am a wreck. I worry what this is doing to my physical as well as mental health.

i've just looked up candy kittens and cleanco on companies house. how i love companies house. i don't understand accounts but due to the fact that i've watched lots of dragon's dens i'm thinking that spenny has 5mill in stock and jamie has just over 1 mill in stock (thanks to tej lavani for explaining this ages ago on DD). but obviously i could be barking up the wrong (and sober) tree so please ignore.

plus i also hope that pigface boss has ears that are literally on fire what with all the talking about him.

Name and shame 🍿

But also, look to find a new job role.
This one is bringing you down and you don't deserve that in your life.

You don’t have to keep calling him “spenny” he does not go by that name and using some kind of cute nickname for a potential work place bully is annoying

There's no legal entitlement to sick pay other than SSP. Anything else is dependent on your contract.

@ily0xx I clocked that too and came back here to see if anyone else had! OP, I think he’s on to you 😳

So sorry to hear you're going through such a shit time. It's shocking how many of us have had to work for these toxic arse holes. I didn't realise how ill my boss had made me until I left the job and started to get back to normal.

HR works for the organisation, not employees, and by not being able to take action against the toxic boss, they enable them.

Good luck with your exit strategy.

I know of one but there were racist factors which are potentially easier to prove than other types of bullying. Admittedly it's rare but they made a very decent amount from it. It was an employer you can imagine being like some of those described in this thread and you'd be delighted to see them get their comeuppance!

Well by the looks of it Candy Kittens made £42k profit last year, and directors' emoluments (across 6 directors though I think it's likely most are paid by other firms) was £165k. Jamie Laing doesn't actually even have a majority stake in Candy Kittens - the ultimate owner is someone else.

No idea what Spencer Matthews runs though.

I've also been there - am now out the other side, thank god.

Before I opened my emails each morning, I used to say to myself - I've a 100% track record of surviving bad days so far, and that's pretty good. Then congratulate myself at the end of each day for getting through it!

Try to see the bullshit for what it is, you can't control what he says, but you can control your reaction to it. Remember they won't want to hear any good ideas that aren't their own. So I had some success in presenting ideas as originally theirs - "I really liked your idea to do x so I'd like your support on a, b and c in order to achieve your vision"

I worked every day of my six month's notice and still wake up with joy that I don't have to do that any more. You will get through this. And you will have learned from it, and so no job will ever be as bad again.

From what you say of him, the ego issue seems to be all him.

If you're working on your exit strategy right now, you could go with malicious compliance with his demands over the last few weeks.
For example, he tells you do to XYZ even though it isn't logical and you can see it'll be problematic. You ask him to put in writing his request. You do as he says, and it goes tits up. You have his written request to do it like that so can bounce that back.

Being a multi-millionaire doesn't make someone more right. Most millionaires started off with a lot of money from family or scammed/conned their way into wealth. There are also plenty of millionaires who got that way through hard work and intelligence, but I'm pretty sure those millionaires never claim they must be 'right' simply because they are a millionaire.

If you don’t want to end up the same way, I suggest you give yourself 6 weeks to find a job and hand notice whether you find it or not. You can carry the damage with you into the next job and your future life if you hold in there for much longer.

I was in a similar situation and handed notice, my friend stayed. I was without a job for a year which wasn’t at all easy but then I got another one and was ok. My friend who stayed was made “redundant” six months later, she was so damaged by the experience she couldn’t work again. She started having paucity attacks everytime she got an interview.

Don’t ask from yourself what you wouldn’t dream to ask any of your team to put up with. You are more important than this job.

Make notes with dates and times that you can remember when he’s behaved badly towards you and get evidence to back it up if you can. And keep a diary of events from now on. If he fires you, you can take him to tribunal for unfair dismissal, and if he doesn’t you may have a case for constructive dismissal if his treatment of you has made it difficult to do the job for which you are paid and has forced you to resign.

Just what I was thinking too!! He's no different to you, me or the King!! We all do essentially the same things only some people smell worse!! Just as we are born with nothing and die with nothing!! All the money in the world won't change the fact that there are no pockets in shrouds and the twat can't take his millions with him!! Just get out of there as soon as you can and gather lots of damning evidence in the meantime.

Definitely film and put it on social media

Yeah, on TikTok it blows up if an ordinary person is abusive, let alone a big celebrity.

I always suspected he was a bit of a knob. The ego is strong in that one.

I really liked him, if it is him (I think it is!) I’m so naive 🫠

@ily0xx There was an interesting article in the Times about him a while ago which alleges that he has been a bit selective regarding his backstory and he might not quite be the multimillionaire tycoon he claimed to be...allegedly. (I hope I have said allegedly enough times to not get sued 🙄)

The times article is subscription only but this summarises it pretty well:

www.prolificnorth.co.uk/news/agency-news/2023/02/times-steven-bartlett-not-tycoon-he-claimed?amp

Recipe - how to cope : Until you have another good job to go to, I would recommend the 'grin and bear it' strategy. I have a trick for people like this. When they talk to me, I imagine they are standing there stark naked or in sagging Y fronts and wearing plastic with beach sandals with long socks and stinking of armpit. Try it out?? Let me know?

If this is Gordon Ramsay you are in good company and there will be many to come and support you with similar stories. The fastest and best way to find a job is whilst you are still working so focus on their industry rivals for your next role. Good luck and take all the great advice on here. Ego maniacs and narcissists cannot be defeated so don't try. Focus on your next move.

@Niceseasidetown such a shame he couldn't be recorded bullying and being a twat and then releasing on his podcast. Or live broadcasting his behaviour. That's the only way the fans would see him for what he is.

Hope the good advice on this thread helps x

This was my first instinct too but I didn’t want to say as I thought I was perhaps influenced by listening to DOAC recently. He only has 240k on Twitter, but 2.4M on insta, so not sure if that fits.

Reading the OP again, I think the boss isn’t actually “a celebrity” but just one within their industry - as in, no one outside it would really know who they are…

All your colleagues can see straight through the crap he’s dishing you up in public.. they are embarrassed for him, not you..

Hi, I had to take a large company to court for unfair dismissal.

I had to use a solicitor. What I didn't realise at first was, that you have home insurance with legal cover. They have a legal department that will help and guide you with your workplace problems and cover any legal costs.

My policy covered all my legal costs. It was the solicitor that told me about it.

I haven't read all the posts. So, I am not sure if this has been mentioned.

Check your home insurance policy. If you have legal cover (usually an added cost) I would give them a ring and tell them what is going on.

You have rights.

Your employer has a duty of care. He is not adhering to employment law.

I hope this helps.

I wish you all the best.