The Swiss socialite’s 1999 divorce and years of extensive cosmetic surgery garnered media attention.
At the age of 84, Jocelyn Wildenstein passed away. The Swiss socialite gained notoriety for her dramatic and expensive plastic surgery procedures as well as her well-publicized 1999 divorce from a multibillionaire art dealer.
Lloyd Klein, Jocelyn’s lifelong partner, revealed to PEOPLE that she passed away on December 31 while napping. Paris Match and AFP broke the story first.
In 1940, Jocelyne Périsset was born in Lausanne, Switzerland. She eloped with Alec Wildenstein in 1977. Alec Jr. and Diane were their two children together.
The couple’s divorce, which made headlines, was formalized two years after they split up in 1997. Because of Jocelyn’s drastically altered appearance, tabloids labeled her “Catwoman” and “The Bride of Wildenstein.” In the end, Alec, who passed away in 2008, settled the divorce by paying his ex-wife $2.5 billion and $100 million a year.
Jocelyn revealed she had had numerous cosmetic treatments during their divorce since her husband “hates to be with old people.” She denied, however, that plastic surgery was the sole source of her feline-like looks. “The lynx has perfect eyes,” she said in a 1998 interview with Vanity Fair. When I show you images of my grandmother, you’ll notice that she has high cheekbones and these eyes, which are like cat eyes. Additionally, she disclosed to the outlet that she spends $1 million per month to support the family’s way of life.
Alec, who told the magazine, “I would always find out last,” had a different take on her surgeries. Like a piece of furniture, she thought she could fix her face. That is not how skin functions. However, she refused to listen.
Jocelyn made an effort to avoid the spotlight once the divorce was finalized. “I have never appeared in public. In 2023, she told The Sunday Times, “It’s not my nature.” In order to “win” the divorce, she also accused Alec of fabricating tales about her plastic surgery and portraying her as a “monster.”
That year, Jocelyn told The Times that she was going to be the focus of a reality program and a documentary, which she decided to undertake after her finances ran out. She clarified, “I have a big problem with my settlement.” “They have completely cut me off for the past eight years.” She declared bankruptcy back in 2018, and her three opulent apartments in Trump Tower were taken back.
Jocelyn has been dating fashion designer Klein since 2003. “She’s known for plastic surgery, but I don’t know that this is what she should be known for because she did a lot of incredible things in her life,” Klein said in an interview with Interview Magazine in 2023. “Major, major, major accomplishments,” emphasizing her charitable endeavors.
Regarding her life after the divorce, she told Interview, “I had a lot of fun.” I discovered independence, and I was able to appreciate it without having to act in accordance with a program.
Klein and Jocelyn’s relationship was intermittent at times. After Jocelyn contacted the police during a fight in 2016, she and Klein parted ways. She was charged with two counts of assault and he was charged with assault, among other offenses. In 2017, they made amends when both of their charges were withdrawn.
Jocelyn and Klein shared pictures of their vacations in Paris on Instagram in the days leading up to her passing.
Klein and her kids are Jocelyn’s survivors.
