‘Catwoman’ Jocelyn Wildenstein dead at age 84

Jocelyn Wildenstein, the New York socialite nicknamed “The Catwoman,” has died. She was 84.

Her partner, Lloyd Klein, reportedly told AFP that Wildenstein died of a pulmonary embolism at a Parisian palace on Tuesday, as of Daily Mail.

A pulmonary embolism is a blood clot that blocks and stops blood flow to an artery in a lung, according to Mayo Clinic.

The blood clot typically forms in a deep vein in a person’s leg and then travels to the lung. In rare cases, the blood clot can form in a vein in another part of the body.

Wildenstein, known for her cat-like features and addiction to plastic surgery, first made headlines in the late ’90s when she divorced her wealthy art collector husband, Alec Wildenstein, after discovering him “in bed with a 19-year-old Russian model.”

Born Jocelyne Périsset, the Swiss native married Alec in 1978.

Her divorce left her as one of the richest people in the world after receiving a $2.5 billion settlement. She was also awarded $100 million more in annual payments from Alec for 13 years.

But in 2018, the huge fortune was gone. Wildenstein filed for bankruptcy in New York and wrote in a statement: “I am not employed and my only income is Social Security.”

She added: “I often turn to friends and family to pay my running costs.”

After ending her marriage to Alec, who died in 2008 at the age of 67, Wildenstein began a tumultuous two-decade love affair with fashion designer Lloyd Klein that began in 2003.

They made headlines in 2016 when Wildenstein was arrested for allegedly stabbing her boyfriend with a pair of scissors during an argument in her Trump Tower apartment in New York.

Days later, Klein was convicted of robbery, assault with intent to cause bodily harm and more after he allegedly tried to retrieve his belongings from the apartment.

The charges against Klein were dropped in January 2017 due to a lack of evidence, while Jocelyn’s charges were dismissed in February 2017 after the couple reunited. Soon after, they became engaged.

Wildenstein and Klein were reportedly still an item until the socialist’s demise.

Wildenstein’s obsession with plastic surgery has been well documented over the years. However, she claimed in February that she had never had plastic surgery.

“I haven’t had plastic surgery” the one-off society event told the Sun. “I’m afraid of what might happen and I don’t like to have anything heavy. Sometimes it’s a bit heavy and terrible.”

Wildenstein reportedly began undergoing surgeries during her marriage to Alec, whom she once described as “hating old people.”

According to some accounts, she wanted to look like a cat because of her husband’s love of cats.

Alec and Wildenstein’s friends suspected that her goal was to look like a lynx (the socialist had one as a pet).

“Lossen has perfect eyes,” she told Vanity Fair in a profile from 1998. She rejected the notion that her distinctive facial features were due to plastic surgery. “If I show you pictures of my grandmother, what you see are these eyes — cat eyes — and high cheekbones,” she said at the time.

Despite reports that Alec forced Wildenstein to undergo cosmetic procedures, he denied pressuring her to change her appearance.

“She was crazy. I would always find that out eventually,” he told Vanity Fair. “She thought she could fix her face like a piece of furniture. Skin doesn’t work that way. But she wouldn’t listen.”

Wildenstein backed up Alec’s version of events. “He never pushed me,” she told the magazine.

“No, he kept telling me I look very young,” she insisted, before adding, “until the day you don’t look young enough!”

Wildenstein is survived by his daughter, Diane, and son, Alec Jr.