Diana Ross once hit an airline worker with a hat box containing a small dog, it has been claimed. The Motown star has been branded a nightmare boss in 'Diana Ross', a biography by J. Randy Taraborrelli, due for publication in September.
The new book claims Ross hit the airline staff member over the head with the hat box, but adds she was presumably unaware the box contained the animal.
Taraborrelli, who has penned biographies of Michael Jackson and Madonna, writes: "Most of the time, Diana's emotional outbursts were about things that really didn't matter much to anyone but her."
On one occasion when she fired her entire staff - after unflattering stories reached the papers - Ross wrote a letter trying to blacklist eight of her employees.
The letter said: "If I let an employee go, it's because either their work or their personal habits are not acceptable to me."
"I do not recommend these people. In fact, if you hear from these people and they use my name as a reference, I wish to be contacted."
At least two of the former employees named in the letter, including her ex-administrative assistant Gail Davis, sued the star for millions of dollars. Davis settled her case three years later.
Taraborelli claims 'avert the eyes' became the catchphrase used to announce Ross' arrival as the star insisted those in her presence avoided making eye contact with her.
The new book also alleges the diva often demanded dressing rooms were redecorated and "made to look like a star's dressing room".
The book claims personal assistant Michael Browne endured the wrath of Ross' then-nine-year-old daughter, Tracee.
The singer's daughter carried a notebook and pencil everywhere she went to keep a check on employees she thought were misbehaving.
Taraborrelli also alleges Ross upstaged Florence Ballard - who was axed from The Supremes and who was the basis for Jennifer Hudson's 'Dreamgirls' character Effie - at Ballard's funeral.
The book claims Ross marched from her front-row pew to the altar, took the microphone and announced, "Mary and I would now like to have a silent prayer."
Taraborelli claims Supremes member Mary Wilson was sitting discreetly at the back of the church, and "the last thing she wanted to do was go up to the altar and be the center of attention."
 |  | | | |  |
