Swiss socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein, known as “Catwoman” because of her extensive plastic surgery, has died at the age of 79, her partner said on Wednesday.
“It is with a heavy heart and great sadness that Mr. Lloyd Klein announces the unexpected death of his beloved fiancée and longtime companion Jocelyn Wildenstein,” the fashion designer said in an English-language statement sent to AFP.
“Mrs. Wildenstein died peacefully in her sleep in the late afternoon of December 31, 2024, in her suite in Paris, where the couple had taken up temporary residence since August 2024,” he said.
They tried to wake him from a nap so he could get ready for New Year’s Eve dinner, but he didn’t respond, they said. “Initial reports from doctors called to the scene indicate that she suffered heart failure and passed away peacefully in her sleep,” Klein said.
(Born Jocelyn Pariset in Switzerland in 1945, she became a New York socialite after marrying art dealer Alec Wildenstein, with whom she had two children. She took her name after their messy divorce in the late 1990s.
In some media reports, his age was stated to be five years older. In a recent interview, she accused people of creating confusion by mixing her birth year with her former husband’s birth year, 1940.
The cosmetic surgery enthusiast, who has over a million followers on Instagram, became known as “Catwoman” in newspapers due to the cat-like shape of her eyes.
She was living between New York and Miami, she told French media in recent months.
‘$2.5 billion divorce’
Wildenstein last posted a video of herself and Klein posing for photographers outside the Ritz Paris to the soundtrack of Wham’s “Last Christmas” on December 23.
“I never wanted to change my face,” she told French television news channel C8 this autumn, although she admitted she might have wished her lips were a little thicker.
She denied rumors that she had undergone cosmetic surgery to keep her ex-husband at bay. According to Klein, he received $2.5 billion from his divorce, making it one of the most expensive divorces at the time.
When asked if she had found love again, she said that she had fallen in love with Klein, who was 21 years her junior.
“Klein and Wildenstein met in 2001 during New York Fashion Week when Lloyd was presenting his fashion collection on the runway,” he said in a written statement.
“She was the front row guest and the two became romantically involved after that show and have been inseparable since that time.”
He added, “Jocelyn was my best friend, my partner, my fiancée. She had a zest for life and a wicked sense of humor.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
