My children will be forever blighted, says Weinstein’s estranged wife
Fashion designer opens up over the impact the sexual harassment scandal had on herself and her children
Georgina Chapman, estranged wife of Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced former Hollywood mogul, has told US Vogue magazine she still cries for her children: ‘What are their lives going to be?’
THE estranged wife of Harvey Weinstein has said she was “terribly naive” not to suspect his behaviour and fears their children’s lives will be blighted forever by the scandal.
Georgina Chapman, a fashion designer, said she had been happily married and considered Weinstein to be a “wonderful partner” until accusations of sexual assault and harassment began mounting up against him.
Breaking her silence for the first time since the allegations began surfacing in October, Chapman wept as she discussed the couple’s children: India, seven, and Dashiell, five.
“There was a part of me that was terribly naive – clearly, so naive. I have moments of rage, I have moments of confusion, I have moments of disbelief.
“And I have moments when I just cry for my children. What are their lives going to be? What are people going to say to them? It’s like, they love their dad. They love him. I just can’t bear it for them,” Chapman told US Vogue.
She maintained that Weinstein was “a wonderful father to my kids” and “was a wonderful partner to me”.
She added: “That’s what makes this so incredibly painful: I had what I thought was a very happy marriage. I loved my life.”
Asked if she was ever suspicious about the Hollywood mogul’s behaviour, she said: “Absolutely not. Never.”
Chapman said she had stayed out of the spotlight since October out of “dignity and respect” for the victims. “I was so humiliated and so broken that I didn’t think it was respectful to go out. I thought, who am I to be parading around with all of this going on? It’s still so very, very raw.”
She added that she “lost 10lb in five days” after the revelations were published, and was now seeing a therapist.
Weinstein, who entered rehab as the allegations, which he denies, piled up against him, has sold the family’s homes in the Hamptons, Connecticut and Manhattan and the couple have reportedly agreed a £10-15 million divorce settlement.
Chapman is moving with her children to a farm in upstate New York.
Actresses who have made allegations against Weinstein include Uma Thurman, Salma Hayek, Daryl Hannah, Angelina Jolie, Lupita Nyong’o, Gwyneth Paltrow and Rose Mcgowan. Weinstein has said that while his behaviour was “not without fault, there certainly was no criminality”.
The sympathetic interview comes two days after Scarlett Johansson wore a dress by Marchesa to the Met Gala. Chapman founded the Marchesa label with Keren Craig, her business partner and it quickly became a red carpet staple, due in part to Weinstein’s influence.
In an article accompanying the interview, Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of US Vogue, urged sympathy for Chapman.
“Georgina is essentially quite oldfashioned, and just as she was always the good daughter – she is still very close to her family – she also became the good wife,” Wintour wrote.
“I am firmly convinced that Georgina had no idea about her husband’s behaviour; blaming her for any of it, as too many have in our gladiatorial digital age, is wrong. I believe that one should not hold a person responsible for the actions of his or her partner.
“What Georgina should be receiving is our compassion and understanding.”