Socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein claims she is broke and has had no income in eight years after her ex-husband’s family forfeited her $100 million annual divorce settlement.
“I have a huge problem with my settlement,” she told the Sunday Times while she and her longtime fiancé were filming a new HBO documentary about her life. “For eight years, they cut me off completely.”
The reclusive 82-year-old won a $2.5 billion settlement in their divorce settlement, with $100 million earmarked for each additional year, as she alleges her husband was unfaithful.
She now says Alec tried to blame her for their failed marriage, saying he no longer recognized his wife due to her extensive cosmetic surgery, which earned her the nickname “Catwoman”.
Jocelyn Wildenstein, 82, first met Alec Wildenstein on safari in Africa. She is pictured here at the age of 15 before undergoing extensive cosmetic surgery
Jocelyn rose to international fame when she divorced Alec, a renowned art dealer, in the 1990s. She claims his infidelity prompted her to file for divorce
Jocelyn received a $2.5 billion settlement from the divorce and paid $100 million each year thereafter. But the payments stopped in 2015 when his family refused her the subsidy, she says
Jocelyn first met Alec in 1977 at his family’s Ol Jogi ranch north of Nairobi while on safari with friends.
The two had two children, Diane and Alec Jr., and lived comfortably in their Manhattan penthouse with a separate family estate in the British Virgin Islands and the family estate in Africa.
But after 20 years of marriage, Jocelyn says she has given up, citing her husband’s extramarital affairs.
“It became too obvious,” she told the Sunday Times. “They were young girls who went to the same restaurants as us.” It wasn’t discretion, nothing.’
During the divorce proceedings, Jocelyn claims, Alec began spreading stories about her plastic surgeries to “enforce the divorce,” and even “hired a publicist and paid a plastic surgeon to certify that I could completely replace my face.” have changed”.
“He couldn’t say I cheated on him; “I never cheated on him,” Jocelyn said, claiming her ex-husband once insisted, “She turned into a monster … I don’t recognize her.”
“He put all the blame in my face,” Jocelyn said.
However, there were rumors that Alec, a well-known cat lover, encouraged his wife to have surgery to give her a more feminine look.
He denied those claims in an interview with Vanity Fair at the time.
“She was crazy,” Alec insisted. “I would always find out last.”
“She thought she could fix her face like a piece of furniture,” he claimed. “Skin doesn’t work that way.” But she wouldn’t listen.’
Still, Jocelyn won the case and was awarded a $2.5 billion settlement, guaranteed $100 million each year “to follow the lifestyle and work of 20 years.”
She was also allowed to keep her ex-husband’s last name.
For years, rumors circulated that Alec encouraged her to have cosmetic surgery to give her a more feline appearance
Jocelyn and her longtime fiancé, French-Canadian designer Lloyd Klein, are currently filming an HBO documentary about their lives. The two are pictured here in New York City in September
But their luck apparently ended in 2015 – when Alec’s family decided to cut their severance payments.
Three years later she filed for bankruptcy.
As the Sunday Times reports, Jocelyn reported her checking account balance as “$0” at the time, although she still had millions of dollars in assets – most of which were property.
Her three luxury apartments in Trump Tower were then confiscated, and now she says she has no money at all.
“Zero – nothing in eight years,” she told the Times.
Jocelyn’s longtime fiancé, 56-year-old French-Canadian designer Lloyd Klein, said she is now making a documentary to tell her side of the story and potentially win back some money.
He called the HBO project “her answer” to the public scrutinizing her life and notorious cosmetic surgeries.
She is also planning a reality TV series to be produced by the team behind Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
“Jocelyn wants to tell the story in her own voice,” he said, and Wildenstein added, “I’ve never been out in public.” It’s not in my nature.’
But Klein says he has bigger plans for his fiancé: “I want to have a series of films about Jocelyn’s life, and I’d like Jennifer Lawrence as young Jocelyn,” he said, adding that he would choose Rami Malek as Alec.