Less than a week after Forbes revoked Kylie Jenner’s “self-made billionaire” status, the magazine named the Kylie Cosmetics founder and her brother-in-law, Kanye West, the top-earning celebrities of 2020.
While Forbes cited the 22-year-old selling a 51 percent stake in her makeup brand to Coty for $600 million as the reason for her top spot on the annual Celeb 100 list, the business magazine couldn’t help but throw a little shade.
“While she had exaggerated over the years about the size of her business, the money she pulled in from the deal was real —enough to rank as one of the biggest celebrity cashouts of all time,” Forbes wrote on Thursday, June 4.
Thursday marks the second time Forbes has publicly accused Jenner of lying about the success of Kylie Cosmetics. The magazine alleged in a story titled “Inside Kylie Jenner’s Web of Lies — and Why She’s No Longer a Billionaire,” published on May 29, that the reality TV personality lied about earnings and forged tax returns to “look even richer.”
Jenner shut down to accusations via Twitter, writing, “What am i even waking up to. i thought this was a reputable site… All i see are a number of inaccurate statements and unproven assumptions lol. i’ve never asked for any title or tried to lie my way there EVER. period.”
A lawyer for the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star also stated that the article was “filled with outright lies.”
Forbes first named Jenner a billionaire in 2019. The magazine now estimates her personal worth sits at just below $900 million.
West, 42, has also disagreed with the publication’s reports about his fortune in the past. After Forbes reported the rapper was worth $1.3 billion in March, West allegedly texted the magazine, “It’s $3.3 billion since no one at Forbes knows how to count.”
Forbes reported on Thursday that West brought in $170 million in 2020, with the majority of his money coming from his Yeezy brand and deal with Adidas.
After Jenner and West, Roger Federer ($106.3 million), Cristiano Ronaldo ($105 million), Lionel Messi ($104 million), Tyler Perry ($97 million), Neymar ($95.5 million), Howard Stern ($90 million), LeBron James ($88.2 million) and Dwayne Johnson ($87.5 million) round out Forbes Celeb 100 list of 2020.
