Why the Kardashians Fired Longtime Makeup Artist Joyce Bonelli: They're 'Over Her Lies'

The entire Kardashian-Jenner family also unfollowed their makeup artist of over 10 years on Instagram

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Published on June 29, 2018 03:17 PM

After working together for more than a decade, the Kardashian-Jenner family has parted ways with their longtime makeup artist Joyce Bonelli, PEOPLE confirms.

Kim Kardashian West, Kourtney Kardashian, Khloé Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, Kylie Jenner and Kris Jenner have unfollowed Bonelli on Instagram. PEOPLE has reached out to the Kardashians as well as Bonelli for comment.

A source who knows Bonelli and the Kardashians tells PEOPLE that things actually turned sour late last year, when Bonelli allegedly "tried to go around them on a deal so the Kardashians wouldn't make money off of it. They caught on and Kim stopped following her, but Khloé and Joyce remained amicable" until they severed ties, too.

"Joyce would conveniently fly out of town for big Kardashian parties so people wouldn't catch on," the source adds. "And after Kim and her parted ways, she would upload pictures of Kim and call Kim her 'twin.' Joyce also claims she came up with the tagline for Kanye's hit 'that s— cray,' which is a lie. The Kardashians were just over her lies and the trying to cheat them out of money was the cherry on top."

Since rising to fame, the Kardashian-Jenners have added a crew of other makeup artists to their glam squads besides Bonelli, including Mario Dedivanovic (who collaborated with Kim on a KKW Beauty makeup collection), Hrush Achemyan, Ariel Tejada and Patrick Ta.

Kim Kardashian West Celebrates The Launch Of KKW Beauty — Stefanie Keenan/Getty

As of last year, Bonelli's relationship with the family was so strong, she referred to them as her "sisters" and said they texted one another "every other day," in a June 2017 interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

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"I've been with the girls for so long and we've been through so much. It's been over a decade. We've known each other since the beginning, before they were famous. After they started their show people started really loving them and then hating them and now they're loving them again, there's been so much that's happened. Now each one of them is a phenomenon in their own way," Bonelli said.

FORWARD By Elyse Walker & Unravel Event — Donato Sardella/Getty

She continued, "We text every other day and we talk about everything. Even if I'm working with a different client we're always talking and FaceTiming — we talk about kids, we talk about the fun, scandalous stuff. They're like my sisters."

On Friday, Bonelli posted an Instagram of herself wearing a robe that reads "F— with me, I dare you" and tagging her husband Ben Taverniti. It's unclear whether she was making a reference to the report.

Bonelli announced the launch of her debut beauty line, Joyce Bonelli Cosmetiques, last year, which may have been a contributing factor to the makeup artist's inability to work with the KarJenner family as frequently.

"Before I got pregnant, I was working with another manufacturer and wasn't happy with the outcome. In the last few months, we've been starting over which is exciting," Bonelli told The Cut about her line in May 2017. "It's frustrating but really coming together with each formula. My new manufacturer is in Milan, and I finally found the right chemist. We are shooting for a September-October release date, before Christmas." (The launch date for the collection has since been pushed back.)

2015 Baby2Baby Gala - Arrivals — JB Lacroix/WireImage

Bonelli isn't the first member of the KarJenners' OG team to be let go. Last fall, Kim parted ways with her longtime assistant Stephanie Shepherd after she tried to transition into a larger role within Kim's brand and business, which "just didn't work," a source told PEOPLE at the time.

"Kim made a decision to let Stephanie go," the insider said. "She was a good assistant but when Stephanie wanted to transition into a larger role with Kim's brand and businesses, it just didn't work. Kim gave her the chance but after a short period of time it became clear that Stephanie just didn't have the knowledge to take on a role like that. Kim made an executive decision to part ways."

The source said, "She's still friendly with the other sisters but she and Kim aren't really speaking." However, Shepherd has appeared on Kardashian West's Instagram again, most recently before she accepted her Influencer of the Year honor at the CFDA Awards earlier this month.

In April 2017, Khloé and her sisters decided to part ways with their longtime stylist Monica Rose after working together for nearly a decade, opting instead to team up with other stylists.

Kim opened up about her reason to no longer work with Rose while appearing on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, which she said was different than why Khloé, Kourtney, Kendall and Kylie split from the stylist.

"I haven't worked with her in maybe four years, so my reason is not connected to this," she said, hinting that there was some drama at the core of her sisters' split from Rose. "But I will say that I read that it was said that she was the reason for my makeover — my makeover when I met Kanye — and I will say that Kanye got me a new team and we kind of documented it," added Kardashian West. "So I think people think that's the reason, and for me, maybe that is the reason. I needed a new vibe."

But as for why all of her sisters left Rose in the dust, she left that reasoning for them to share: "You'd have to ask Khloé and Kendall and Kylie and the girls."