JUST IN: Jocelyn Wildenstein The Catwoman Socialite known For Her Extreme Cosmetic Surgery Is Dead—-Jocelyn Wildenstein, the New York socialite nicknamed “The Catwoman” because of her extreme cosmetic surgery, has d!ed. She was 84.
Her partner, Lloyd Klein, reportedly told AFP she d!ed of a pulmonary embolism in Paris on Tuesday, Dec. 31.
Wildenstein, known for her catlike 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.”
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.”
Wildenstein’s obsession with plastic surgery has been well documented over the years. However, she claimed in February, 2024, that 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.”
Wildenstein 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 Wildenstein’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.”
Jocelyn before her transformation
Wildenstein 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!”
Wildenstein is survived by her daughter, Diane, and son, Alec Jr.
