As I’ve said before, I don’t find Georgina Chapman to be all that sympathetic. I don’t believe she knew the extent of Harvey Weinstein’s crimes, nor could she have imagined the extent to which he abused, harassed and raped women for decades. But I will always believe that Chapman knew that Weinstein “screwed around,” and that he was a boorish bully who forced women to wear her Marchesa designs. What she knew was on a sliding scale – she knew some of his stuff, the stuff she could live with. And after everything came out, the rapes, the abuse, the decades of harassment and criminality, she left him and good for her. But yeah, I still don’t find her sympathetic. And I hate that there’s a significant conversation about “how Georgina is doing” after her ex-husband was found guilty of rape/assault. But here we are.
Georgina Chapman announced plans to divorce Harvey Weinstein within days of The New York Times first reporting eight women’s allegations of sexual abuse against him in October 2017. Now as the disgraced movie mogul, 67, faces legal action after being found guilty on rape and assault charges in New York City, “to say that Harvey disgusts her is an understatement,” a fashion industry source tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue.
After a Manhattan court found Weinstein guilty of a criminal sexual act in the first degree and rape in the third degree, news also broke that Chapman, 43, had moved on with actor Adrien Brody, her first relationship since her split from Weinstein. “It diverts her attention from the pain and embarrassment of her situation and subsequent split,” a film industry source says.
The fashion insider concurs, “She was shocked and livid when she learned about all of this and especially when it went public. It was humiliating.”
The Marchesa co-founder and the former producer settled the divorce in January 2018, with Weinstein having to pay Chapman between $15 and $20 million. Chapman got custody of their two kids, ages 6 and 9, and now she wonders what Weinstein’s actions “will do to their lives now and later,” the first source says. “She didn’t know about this side of him, and of course it has devastated her. She worries about the children.”
Regardless of how her marriage with Weinstein turned out and the circumstances surrounding its end, Chapman feels grateful for the children it gave her. “Despite what she has been through, she has a high-profile career and two children that have greatly enriched her life,” the insider says. “She has always been busy with her own career, yet, still has made the kids a great and loving home.”
Um, “She was shocked and livid when she learned about all of this and especially when it went public. It was humiliating.” ESPECIALLY? And is “humiliating” the word to use here? I know this is nitpicky and whatever, I am absolutely that bitch, but the vibe I’m getting from these “sources” is that Georgina was devastated when the things she’d long suspected (or known about) became public. NOT the fact that her husband was raping and abusing women for decades. She was upset that it was made public. And again, “humiliating”? I don’t doubt it was humiliating. But is that still the emotion the ex-wife wants to cop to? How about “she’s still completely devastated that her husband raped and abused so many women.” Grrr.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
She was probably always disgusted with him. Now just more so. I think she married him for money, he was always a pig and she knew it. But her label is funded now. So she got what she wanted. Those poor kids though.
Thank you @Julia.
I don’t believe this woman.
Everyone gossiped and talked about this guy’s gross behavior, comedians and hosts made jokes about him. Before #metoo, it was his stories that ppl regurgitated about transactional relationships with actresses, it’s why Paltrow was thought of as ‘Mrs. Miramax.’ Matt Damon knew, Ben Affleck knew, Brad Pitt knew, all the actresses he tried it with knew. Hundreds. Ashley Judd’s story was out there, as was Rose McGowan’s before she named names- still everyone knew. Angelina Jolie said she told everyone she knew what he was like and never worked with him. Sometimes I’d wonder why Jolie got so much press hate (I recall this weird article that came out, around the time he was being investigated – called why is Angelina A movie star. It beat her up one side and down the other…and for no reason) i think Weinstein was behind that too. He owned the PR agencies, maybe that’s why she never had one. Probably stuck in Weinstein’s craw Jolie became as huge as she did. Makes Brad Pitt look even weaker since he worked with Tarantino & Weinstein on Basterds. I think that was the beginning of the end for them.
So everybody knew he was a slimy jabba the hut, but bec he was all powerful and ruled H’wood, no one did jack…and this moron decides to marry him.
We sometimes don’t want to say this, but for all the many many woman he terrorized, and killed the dreams of, there were probably a few panting to take him up on his offer to get a role. There are probably a few more that miss that he’s not around to parlay a twirl into a movie career. Or (heave) marry.
Women who work their whole lives in corporate, and see some atmospheric rise of a new young employee with little experience – know this is a thing. In a way not everyone’s a victim, yet we’re all victims- if that makes sense.
Mish, beautifully worte. It feels like everybody knew, yet no one knew how to say it louder. Many women, the ones who said no and the ones who said yes, are victims as well. Sad all around and you expressed it way better
@Mish – so true to everything you wrote.
There’s research from slavery that shows that many of the wives of slave owners knew that their husbands were abusing the enslaved women, but that they turned a blind eye to it because it kept the men away from them. Since birth control wasn’t readily available, these other womens’ abuse and suffering became a shield that protected wives from their husbands’ attentions (and endless rounds of pregnancy and childbirth).
Georgina Chapman reminds me of those wives. Turning a blind eye, knowing something was happening but content to ignore it as long as her purpose was being served.
You just wrote everything I was thinking when I read that in People Magazine
Took awhile for my eyebrow to come out of that OMFG high arch
Still waiting for lip to uncurl it’s sucks dripping coffee out of the side of my mouth
She clearly wasn’t disgusted enough when she decided to stay married to him, have children with him, let him fund her ‘fashion’ business and bully celebs to wear her awful dresses (I have never seen a dress of hers that i like – her bridal line is not bad).
She knew what he was! She choose to stay with him even after the story about him assaulting that Italian model.
The only HW celeb who I think wore her clothes because she liked them is Blakey Lively. I think she knew on some level that he was pressuring HW actresses to wear her designs.
Whenever she makes public statements like this she comes off as only caring about her label. Am not sure i’ve seen her address the stories about women being bullied to wear her clothes.
Yes to this. Maybe she didn’t know the full extent of his crimes, but she knew what he was and she didn’t care until it became public and ‘embarrassing’. That’s why she’s such an unsympathetic character in all this – she doesn’t care about anyone else. So why should we care about her?
Yet she sure benefited from him all these years.
Perhaps not the best wording but let’s be real here: if you found out you were married to a monster like this wouldn’t you feel a bit humiliated by the entire thing? I would. Especially since her brand and how he bullied women into wearing her designs came up again and again. That’s f-cking embarrassing! I honestly think she thought her fashion house was well like in Hollywood. I think Harvey did a LOT of that $hit on his own to make his wife look and feel good.
I also think she married a powerful man because of what he could do for her. I just dont think she knew the extent of what he was doing to get her brand to where it was. But this is why you don’t marry for money and power.
This is exactly what I think VV. Not the right thing to say, but she’s never stuck me as being a bright bulb. And Harvey was a manipulative monster. I’m sure he played her just like everyone else in his orbit. And being shallow isn’t a crime. He knew everyone. Everyone knew him. He was rich.
Get in line, Georgina.
I actually met Weinstein once, very superficially. A this-is-so-and-so, handshake sort of thing. And even in that 30 second encounter he was just as boorish and loathsome as you would imagine. The kind of guy that, even without hearing about his disgusting exploits, was just utterly dismissive and awful to anyone “below” him. There aren’t a lot of “Hollywood” folks you encounter that lack all charm (even the creeps), but Weinstein was one of them. Even the person who made that intro afterwards was like, ‘Yeah, he’s an asshole,’ but not without making sure they weren’t overheard. That was absolutely Weinstein’s vibe.
My point is, while I’ve never met Georgina, nor talked about her with anyone that has, it is utterly impossible not to think she was very well aware of who her husband was, at least in a general sense. And that their relationship was, at least in part, a transactional power exchange. So, yeah, I agree with Kaiser, and will save my sympathy for Weinstein’s many victims, and not his “humiliated” ex-wife.
I bet you wanted to sanitize that hand!!
His face matches how ugly he is inside.
He is a classic example of getting the face he deserves.
I had read rumors for years about him.
So we’re supposed to believe that an insider (to say the least) had not also heard these rumors, and much more?
I’m terribly sorry she’s feeling humiliated and depressed about the loss of her life as it was.
Where is the empathy for his victims?
Sounds like she is a very spoiled and entitled-feeling person. Me Me Me. MY perfect life got ruined. No empathy for the victims.
NOW you’re disgusted? Hypocrite
I’m sure she married him for his wonderful character and charming good looks? No? Oh, right. Sorry, Georgina, but we can see through you. You knew, maybe you were even a victim yourself, but you didn’t care until he got caught. Everyone knew.
Her clothes are ugly.
You’d have to have quite the gag reflex to let that face and personality on top of you, so I’m not surprised it’s all coming out now that she doesn’t have to pretend for the money anymore.
She isn’t responsible for what he did, but she’s a lesson in choosing what devil you know wisely. Chapman was right in the mix of Hollywood. She had to heard something at some point; she just learned to cultivate denial like most around him did.
Yup, come on, the old adage “if you marry for money you earn it” is tried and true. This is just an extreme outcome. And yes, her line is dreadful.
Do feel sorry for her kids and all his older kids as well. I would seriously change my last name if he was my father.
I feel like I’m taking crazy pills with the amount of whitewashing and re-writing of recent history I’m seeing.
An Italian model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez accused Harvey of sexual assault … IN 2015!!! Long before the NYT expose… She went to the police, recorded him, had him on TAPE CONFESSING he had indeed assaulted her and then the DA Courtney Vance decided not to press charges due to lack of evidence (lol!)
But somehow Georgina never heard of all that? I don’t know the extent of what she knew about her husband’s many sexual assaults and rapes, but she must have known about THIS accusation. And she decided to stand by him because nobody believed that poor model. Now that the public opinion is firmly and finally against Harvey, she wants to play the doe-eyed, unsuspecting wife. Pleeeeaaase.
Sorry, I think you mean DA Cyrus Vance Jr. Courtney Vance is an actor.
Georgina’s company must be getting some backlash right now or why else would she be saying these things about her ex-husband who bankrolled her company? Too little, too late, no?
Yes this sources choice of words confirms how self absorbed Georgiana comes across and the gut feeling I’ve had about her this whole time
Weinstein didn’t bother her when she was using him to prop herself up & live off his money.
Sorry, but I find her ‘outrage’ and ‘disgust’ completely performative (and nullified by her ‘humiliation’)
Honestly, I cannot roll my eyes hard enough.
I heard rumors of Weinstein’s disgusting-ness way back in the NINETIES. And I’m a nobody, who reads gossip columns — yet I Knew, and she didn’t? BECAUSE REALLY??
GTFO, Georgina. You knew. You did. You didn’t care.
bish please
I don’t know anything about her personally, but I think it’s REALLY worth noting that abusers are HIGHLY SKILLED at hiding their behavior and/or acting like complete angels around people that they want to hide that behavior from. In HW’s case, having a wife gave him credibility and you KNOW he hid that stuff from her, told her so-and-so was just DYING to wear the designs she was making (and she obviously wanted to believe that too). I mean, there are serial killers out there whose families had ZERO idea anything was going on so it’s not really that hard to believe that she was kept in the dark. Even if she know about “affairs,” that’s not rape. And even if she heard the other rumors, I’m sure HW did such a good job pretending around her that she would have a very hard time buying that idea. Same with Eugenie and Beatrice, but that’s another thread.
Really? How much of a dumb one has to play to not know a pig like him is a predator?
I buy this.
“Lie down with dogs… “
When I think of Georgina, I think of her role in that Hayden Christensen/Jessica Alba movie where they were trying to kill him for his money.
There was a scene that always stuck with me where she said she would have had a ring on her finger from her mark in 3 months.
Yeah, she knew something. Maybe not the whole extent but something.
She has a very similar permanent expression that Milania has — kind of intensely blank, like she’s trying to look innocent, fearless, sympathetic and irresistible all at the same time.
The NY Post ran a front cover headline FIVE YEARS AGO saying that Georgina Chapman and Marchesa were having crisis talks over Weinstein’s latest rape allegation (of the Italian model). So no, there’s no way she didn’t know.
It’s beyond belief that this woman literally had her own name and the name of her company in the same front page headline as “Weinstein rape allegation” yet people still claim that maybe she didn’t know. Even if she was the only person in Hollywood not to know about what was an open secret, you don’t accidentally miss your own name being in a newspaper front page headline.
People forget the Oct 2017 article that sparked the entire thing was not the first time he was publicly accused of rape.
She definitely has a Melania Trump trophy wife vibe. I don’t think she’s all too sympathetic. I find it incredibly hard to believe she had no idea all this was going on…