Former Hollywood Publicist Says The Pandemic Launched His New TikTok Career
Former Hollywood publicist Amir Yass admits that getting fired from his last publicity job may have been the best thing that could have happened to him.
Yass went into rebuilding mode, unsure about his next move until he suddenly went viral on TikTok. His Instagram Live interviews with celebrities also took off. But it was his “Corny-Ass Celebs I’ve Worked For:” TikToks that ended up breaking the Internet. In his first video, he announced that the “NDA’s” have dropped and he was ready to spill the tea.
He didn’t hold back, revealing that his encounter with Erika Jayne from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills was a “nightmare” and may have gotten him fired from a job. Plus he shared the sweet side of the business including the down-to-earth nature of A-list celebrities like Michael B. Jordan and Jennifer Lopez.
Amir Yass relaunched his career from home
Yass appeared on The Juicy Scoop with Heather McDonald where he recounted his trajectory from publicist to viral TikToker. “I got fired from my last job in December, I was working for this British PR company, and they were just like we don’t need you anymore,” he recounts. “And off I went.”
“Then I just started in January posting videos on Instagram joking around,” he continued. “And then TikTok happened in March. Then COVID hit and it was like, you know what? It’s fine if I’m not 12. I’ll jump on this and I’ll do my best and I did it.”
Yass moved back in with his parents in Orange County and continues to flood his Instagram and TikTok with hilarious videos. Most recently, Yass dished about working for actor Dan Levy’s management team. Yass describes him as “fabulous” and “so smart” and “well-dressed.”
He captioned the TikTok, “Another one for you! I’m doing my best to get you one every day! Love @schittscreek @instadanjlevy he was delight to work for! He deserves all the Emmy nods and all the success! He’s a good one and ppl think we look alike, what a compliment!”
Is he worried about celeb backlash?
Yass has plenty of love for a slew of celebrities he’s worked for, but he’s frank and upfront about the ones who were less than nice. He went into detail with Showbiz Cheat Sheet about his encounters with Jayne. Yass recalled receiving an icy reception from Jayne at a live television shoot. Jayne then called his boss to say that Yass was the one who was a nightmare.
“I was actually fired a couple of weeks later,” he said. “I’m not going to say that Erika was the reason I got fired but it had a lot to do with it. Basically that day my boss was like, ‘I no longer want you to fill in for me.’ Which basically means she no longer trusts me to do the job when she’s not there.”
He later revealed in a TikTok that Jayne’s publicist reached out to him, accusing him of lying. What did Yass do? He shared the email in a TikTok.
Is he worried all this dishing is going to come back to haunt him? Not really. “I literally got tired of hiding,” he told McDonald. “For people who don’t know, if you’re a publicist, you’re hiding. You’re behind the camera. When I used to work for Michael B. Jordan, you don’t want to be seen, you don’t want to be heard. And I got tired of it. Like why would I want to do that job for literally dollars on the penny. You get nothing as a publicist.”
