JOSÉ CASTELO BRANCO had been wearing the same Balmain leggings for two weeks. Anyone who knows knows this to be a scandal. The spouse of a diamond heiress and a Kardashian-level star in Portugal, José always lived for a certain level of luxury. Traveling from New York to Lisbon for what was supposed to be a short trip, José brought the usual 13 Louis Vuitton suitcases and paid thousands of dollars in excess baggage fees.
But when José and I met up this May in the Portuguese capital, it was in a small apartment on a suburban street, and circumstances did not allow for such standards of presentation. Betty Grafstein, an elderly British aristocrat and José's wife of nearly 30 years, had accused José of physical and psychological abuse. Portuguese authorities were investigating. The couple's shared wardrobe and jewelry collection were now the subject of a marital dispute.
José was effectively couch surfing at the apartment of a loyal friend and down to a single outfit-the same one José had worn to jail, minus a Birkin bag, sold to help pay legal fees.
José's problems started a month earlier, on April 20, 2024, when Betty ended up in the hospital after a fall. According to Betty's statement to doctors treating her for a fractured femur and an injured wrist, José had intentionally pushed her.
The hospital made an official complaint to authorities. José was arrested and spent the night in jail. Paparazzi swarmed outside José's cell window. How was José doing? "Lindamente." (Beautifully.) On paper, beauty was the one thing José and Betty always had in common.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der September 2024-Ausgabe von Vanity Fair US.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der September 2024-Ausgabe von Vanity Fair US.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
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Both Now Sides - Selena Gomez is seriously in loveand making the best work of her career. With the audacious Emilia Pérez hitting theaters and Only Murders in the Building returning to TV, the actor, singer, entrepreneur, and mental health advocate talks, about the climb
Selena Gomez is seriously in loveand making the best work of her career. With the audacious Emilia Pérez hitting theaters and Only Murders in the Building returning to TV, the actor, singer, entrepreneur, and mental health advocate talks, about the climb
Give and Let Give -Melinda French Gates is speaking out for the rights of women and girls, embracing her role as godmother to her fellow philanthropists, and getting political, even when it's a little uncomfortable.
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Party Planning - Putin wants Trump to win, of course, and he's got big ideas about a new world order. Think Yalta-on Fiji
I don’t know which moment in US history former president Donald Trump imagines when he says, “Make America great again.” He has never given a definitive answer in any speech or interview. But I know exactly which moment Vladimir Putin imagines in his own vision for Russian greatness. It is February 1945, when Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill divided the world in Crimea.
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Another Country- Searching for James Baldwin in the South of France
Since James Baldwin's death nearly 40 years ago, the literary lion's final home, in the South of France, has drawn a procession of acolytes to the Provençal community of Saint-Paul de Vence, where he spent the last 17 years of his life.The 300-year-old villa in which he resided no longer exists: By 2019 developers had converted the site into a luxury apartment complex. But that hasn't deterred generations of admirers, inflamed and enlightened by Baldwin's prose, from making a pilgrimage. Including me. Seizing the occasion of the writer's centennial year, I paid a visit in April. My first stop was a table at a Baldwin hangout, the Café de la Place on Place du Général de Gaulle, for a croque monsieur and a double espresso.
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