Karoline Leavitt’s inner circle is feeling the fallout of her high-profile role.
One White House staffer with close ties to the press secretary is facing online attacks simply for doing her job.
In this White House era, where opposing President Donald Trump can cost you your job, one woman has done what some consider unthinkable.
Surprisingly, it has nothing to do with Trump. But Leavitt’s evolving appearance has sparked a debate about what’s different.
Now the woman responsible for getting the White House press secretary camera-ready for the podium every day — is paying the price.
Brittany Danielle has styled Karoline Leavitt since the White House press secretary rose to prominence in Trump’s administration.
She told Independent Women the job brings grueling hours, an unpredictable schedule, and relentless online hate
“I know that [Leavitt’s] got two meetings coming up, and I’ll have enough time to blow dry half of her hair and then set up my makeup,” Danielle said. “We will literally work where I will only have one of her eyes done, and she has to go to a meeting.”
There is no downtime.
Danielle is forced to work around Leavitt’s meetings, paperwork, social media, and daily press duties.
“[Leavitt is] looking at files, she’s reading stuff, she’s on her phone, she’s in a meeting, she’s got 10 people in her office. And I’m sitting there doing her hair and makeup,” she explained.
The chaos wasn’t the hard part. The internet was.
“I was getting death threats,” Danielle revealed. “People were like, ‘I pray every day that you go to hell.'” The harassment got bad enough that she locked down her social media.
“People talk so much trash, and they don’t know the situation,” she said. “A lot of times they’re attacking not the makeup artist, but they’re attacking the politician, and you just happen to get wrapped up in it.”
Danielle said the experience changed her outlook after seeing White House staff work tirelessly behind the scenes. She said the job awakened her patriotism and deepened her love for the country.
None of that stopped the comment sections. Facebook users piled on Leavitt’s appearance instead.
“Did she do those lips?,” one person asked. A second went further: “This make up artist needs to go back to school Karoline lips are a disgrace to the public.”
A third said, “All from Leavitt for making her lips look too thin.”
Some tried to separate the artist from the target.
“The makeup artist isn’t to blame for the state of Karoline’s face. There’s only so much makeup can disguise,” one commenter wrote.
The pile-on has intensified after Vanity Fair ran a feature on Trump’s inner circle last December.
The magazine spread featured a tight, unforgiving close-up of the 28-year-old press secretary.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt for Vanity Fair. pic.twitter.com/q28NW9dC88
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) December 17, 2025
The spread also profiled chief of staff Susie Wiles, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Other staff in the images include adviser Stephen Miller, tagging them “The Enforcer,” “The Heir Apparent,” “The Hawk,” and “The Zealot.”
Leavitt got “The Mouthpiece.” Unfortunately, one close-up of her makeup had many noticing the bumps on her lips, and that became a story all on its own.
Photographer Christopher Anderson said the tight framing was just his signature style, not an attempt to embarrass anyone.
The White House wasn’t buying it, accusing the magazine of shooting and editing staffers to make them look bad.
Danielle also didn’t want to be blamed at the time.
She asked her IG followers, “Remember that chaotic Vanity Fair photo shoot where they clearly tried to sabotage Karoline?”
The scrutiny hasn’t let up.
With Leavitt, people are pairing side-by-side images; the cosmetic work was what was speculated on.
Nicknames like “MAGA Barbie” and “Mar-a-Lago face” made their rounds again. Plastic surgeons weighed in with public guesses based on nothing but pictures, and the cycle spun back up.
But she is taking it in stride, defining her own look and seemingly brushing off critics.
