Harvey Weinstein’s estranged wife, Georgina Chapman, has given her first interview since scandal erupted around her husband, saying that she never knew about his alleged sexual misconduct, and breaking down in sobs when speaking about their two small children.
In an interview in Vogue ’s June issue, posted online on Thursday, Ms. Chapman says she had “what I thought was a very happy marriage. I loved my life.” Asked if she had suspicions about her husband’s behavior, she says, “Absolutely not. Never.”
“There was a part of me that was terribly naive clearly, so naive,” she says at another point. “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?” Her interviewer writes that Ms. Chapman breaks down in tears at this point. “It’s like, they love their dad. They love him. I just can’t bear it for them!”
The interview comes seven months after Ms. Chapman announced she was divorcing Mr. Weinstein, who has been accused by dozens of women of sexual abuse, including assault and rape. After issuing that statement, she has remained out of public view. Her fashion line, Marchesa, which she co-founded with Keren Craig, cancelled its show for February’s New York Fashion Week, and Marchesa gowns were nowhere to be seen at awards shows like the Golden Globes and the Oscars.
But this week, it appeared that Marchesa was inching toward a comeback. On Monday, actor Scarlett Johansson became the first star to wear the label again on the highly visible Met Gala red carpet, no less, in a deep red gown.
Anna Wintour’s support
On Wednesday, Vogue ’s powerful editor in chief Anna Wintour, who runs the gala and is the most influential arbiter of American fashion, made a point of mentioning Ms. Chapman on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert , praising Ms. Johansson’s move and calling Ms. Chapman a “brilliant designer” who should not be punished for her husband’s behaviour.
Then the Vogue profile appeared on Thursday morning, together with a lengthy editor’s note by Ms. Wintour.
“I am firmly convinced that Georgina had no idea about her husband’s behavior,” Ms. Wintour wrote. “Blaming her for any of it, as too many have in our gladiatorial digital age, is wrong.”
