Jocelyn Wildenstein, the New York socialite nicknamed “The Catwoman,” has died. She was 84.
Her partner, Lloyd Klein, reportedly told AFP that Wildenstein died of a pulmonary embolism in a Parisian palace on Tuesday, per Daily Mail.
A pulmonary embolism is a blood clot that blocks and stops blood flow to an artery in a lung, according to The Mayo Clinic.
The blood clot typically forms in a deep vein in a person’s leg and then travels to the lung. In rare cases, the clot can form in a vein in another part of the body.
Wildenstein, known for her cat-like features and addiction to plastic surgery, first made headlines in the late ’90s when she divorced her wealthy art collector husband, Alec Wildenstein, after discovering him “in bed with a 19-year-old Russian model.”
Born Jocelyne Périsset, the Swiss native married Alec in 1978.
Her divorce left her as one of the wealthiest people in the world after receiving a $2.5 billion settlement. She also was awarded $100 million more in annual payments from Alec for 13 years.
However, by 2018, the vast fortune was gone. Wildenstein filed for bankruptcy in New York, writing in an affidavit, “I am not employed and my only income is Social Security.”
She added, “I often turn to friends and family in order to pay my ongoing expenses.”
After ending her marriage with Alec, who died in 2008 at the age of 67, Wildenstein began a tumultuous two-decade-long love affair with fashion designer Lloyd Klein starting in 2003.
They made headlines in 2016 when Wildenstein was arrested for allegedly stabbing her paramour with scissors during an argument at her Trump Tower apartment in New York.
Days later, Klein was booked for robbery and assault after he allegedly attempted to retrieve his belongings from the apartment.
The charges against Klein were dropped in January 2017 due to lack of evidence, while Jocelyn’s charges were dismissed in February 2017 after the couple reunited. They soon after got engaged.
Wildenstein and Klein were reportedly still an item up until the socialite’s passing.
Wildenstein’s obsession with plastic surgery has been well-documented over the years. Yet in February, she claimed she had never had plastic surgery.
“I haven’t had plastic surgery,” the one-time society fixture told The Sun. “I am scared of what can happen, and I don’t like to have something heavy. Sometimes it is a bit heavy and terrible.”
Wildstein reportedly began undergoing surgeries during her marriage to Alec, who she once described as “hating old people.”
By some accounts, she wanted to look like a feline because of her husband’s love of cats.
Alec and Wildstein’s friends suspected that her goal was to look like a lynx (the socialite had one as a pet).
“The lynx has perfect eyes,” she told Vanity Fair in a 1998 profile. She rebuffed the notion that her distinct facial features were due to plastic surgery, however. “If I show you pictures of my grandmother, what you see is these eyes — cat eyes — and high cheekbones,” she said at the time.
Despite reports that Alec forced Wildenstein to undergo cosmetic procedures, he denied pressuring her to change her appearance.
“She was crazy. I would always find out last,” he told Vanity Fair. “She was thinking that she could fix her face like a piece of furniture. Skin does not work that way. But she wouldn’t listen.”
Wildstein backed up Alec’s version of events. “He never pushed me,” she told the magazine.
“No, he all the time told me that I look very young,” she insisted, before adding, “Until the day you don’t look young enough!”
Wildstein is survived by her daughter Diane and son Alec Jr.
This is a developing story.
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