In a statement provided to AFP, Klein said: “It is with heavy heart and with great sadness that Mr Lloyd Klein announces the unexpected death of his beloved fiancée and longtime companion Jocelyne Wildenstein.”
The statement further explained: “Mrs Wildenstein died peacefully in her sleep in the late afternoon of December 31st, 2024 in her… suite in Paris where the couple had taken temporary residence since August of 2024.”
Klein revealed that he attempted to awaken Wildenstein from a nap to prepare for their New Year’s Eve dinner, but she was unresponsive.
He told People after her passing: “We had a nice happy hour the same night and we were getting ready for the new year, and we took a little nap just to look good before getting dressed.”
Asked about the cause of Wildenstein’s death, Klein stated: “Because of her phlebitis, the legs were very, very swollen, and the blood was blocked, and there was no oxygen in the brain.
“And we were having a nap and when I wake up, I said, ‘Jocelyn, we have to wake up, we have to get dressed,’ and she was cold and she was dead.”
Klein expressed his sorrow, saying: “It’s very sad. It’s extremely sad,” he added. “It’s extremely sad to lay down with your other half that I know for 21 years and waiting to celebrate New Year’s Eve and to find her cold.”
He mentioned that Wildenstein’s condition, which ran in her family, hadn’t impacted their holidays as her health appeared fine just days prior.
“We were at the Ritz two days ago. We were having dinner,” he said. “Before that, we had come for Fashion Week at Chanel. Everything was good, everything was good.”
Wildenstein gained notoriety following her 1997 separation from her ex-husband, art dealer Alec Wildenstein, with whom she shared two children after 20 years of marriage.
Their divorce was finalized two years later and made headlines as one of the most expensive in history at the time, with her receiving a $2.5 billion settlement, although it wasn’t paid in a lump sum.
The court ordered that Wildenstein would receive $100 million annually, but Alec’s family contested the inheritance following his death in 2008.
Despite initially receiving her share of the divorce settlement, Wildenstein’s payments reportedly stopped in 2015 after Alec’s family ceased the payments.
She filed for bankruptcy three years later.
Born as Jocelyn Périsset in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1940, she was widely recognized for her extensive plastic surgeries, earning her the nickname ‘Catwoman’ due to her feline-like appearance, although she denied having undergone surgery.
Last August, to mark her daughter’s birthday, Wildenstein posted a rare throwback photo showing her original appearance.
The caption read: “Happy Birthday to my beautiful daughter Diane Wildenstein #oljogi #jocelynwildenstein.”
The image showed her as a striking blonde, reminiscent of a Bond girl, holding her daughter Diane, who is now 45.
In June last year, Wildenstein shared a teenage photo on Instagram, criticizing those who edited her images.
She wrote: “#tbt that’s me #jocelynwildenstein at ballet classes in Switzerland at 15 years old.
“So maybe you should stop speculating on my image! Press stop! Stop please and stop photoshopping my images because you are all [100 percent] wrong.
“Stop posting fake images of me.”