American Apologies

Earning the nickname “Queen of Mean”, the late New York billionaire hotel operator and real estate investor Leona Helmsley was well known for her reputation as a complete bitch. She gained her success through years of social and business climbing, not to mention her marriage to real estate mogul Harry Helmsley. Despite all the riches she could imagine, she was known for being a tyrannical boss whose bad attitude seemed ill-suited for the hotel industry. The slightest mistake was usually grounds for firing, and Helmsley was known to shout insults and obscenities at employees just before they were fored. It was reported that she made an employee get on his knees and beg for his job after getting a tiny bit of water on her saucer. Karma finally answered back, and following allegations by unpaid contractors that work done on her home had been charged to her company, she was investigated and convicted of federal income tax evasion and other crimes in 1989. Although she received a sentence of 16 years, she was required to serve only 19 months in prison. During her trial, a former housekeeper testified that she had heard Helmsley say infamously: “We don’t pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes…”. In 2002, Helmsley was sued by a former employee who alleged that he was fired solely for being homosexual. A jury agreed and she had to pay almost $600,000 to him. After her death in 2007, she gave her Maltese, Trouble, a $12 million trust fund, which was subsequently reduced to $2 million less than a year later by a judge. Regardless of where her money ultimate went, it was obvious she preferred dogs to humans (she had few friends), and her will was evidence enough that she was willing to take her bitchiness to the grave.