“Catwoman” Jocelyn Wildenstein appears to be living the high life more than a year after claiming she was broke after her $100 million divorce settlement was cut off.
The 82-year-old, who earned the nickname after spending millions on plastic surgery to look feline, was spotted enjoying a lavish summer vacation in Miami Beach with her longtime fiancé Lloyd Klein last week.
The Swiss socialite was happy to pose for photos for DailyMail.com as she sunbathed on the chairs in the VIP lounge at the luxurious five-star 1 Hotel South Beach on Thursday, at one point snuggling up to her younger boyfriend, 56.
Wildenstein, who lives in New York but has kept a relatively low profile in recent years, was recognizable by her famous sphinx-like appearance and voluminous blond hair.
Jocelyn Wildenstein, the “Catwoman,” was spotted enjoying a luxurious beach getaway in Miami Beach with her longtime fiancé, Lloyd Klein, last week.
The 82-year-old Swiss socialite was happy to pose for photos for DailyMail.com as she sunbathed on the chairs in the VIP lounge at the luxurious five-star 1 Hotel South Beach on Thursday.
She wore a black, deep-cut one-piece swimsuit and accessorized with oversized dark sunglasses.
The luxury getaway appears to be a far cry from the cash-strapped situation she claimed to have faced after being forced to file for bankruptcy six years ago.
Wildenstein gave a rare interview last summer in which she said she was broke and had had no income for eight years after her ex-husband’s family cut off the nine-figure annual payment she won in their 1999 divorce.
The reclusive socialite earned $2.5 billion in the settlement, with $100 million allotted for each year following the split, after she claimed her husband, billionaire businessman Alec N. Wildenstein, had been unfaithful.
In a June 2023 interview with The Sunday TimesShe claimed Alec, who died in 2008, had tried to blame her for his failed marriage by saying he no longer recognised his wife because of her extensive plastic surgery which earned her her famous nickname.
“I have a big problem with my agreement,” she told the paper as she and her fiancé filmed a new HBO docuseries about his life.
“I have been completely isolated for eight years.”
Wildenstein, who earned the nickname ‘Catwoman’ after spending millions on plastic surgery to look feline, wore a deep-cut black one-piece swimsuit and accessorised with oversized dark sunglasses.
Wildenstein, who lives in New York but has kept a relatively low profile in recent years, was recognisable by her famous sphinx-like appearance and voluminous blonde locks. At one point she was seen snuggling up to her younger boyfriend, aged 56.
Wildenstein gave a rare interview last summer in which she claimed she was broke and had had no income for eight years after her ex-husband’s family cut her out of their divorce settlement.
The couple were enjoying a beach getaway at the luxurious five-star 1 Hotel South Beach in Miami.
Jocelyn met Alec in 1977 at her family’s Ol Jogi ranch, north of Nairobi, while on safari with friends.
The two had two children, Diane and Alec Jr., and lived comfortably in their Manhattan penthouse with a separate family compound in the British Virgin Islands and the family property in Africa.
But after 20 years of marriage, Jocelyn says, she decided to separate, citing her husband’s extramarital affairs.
“It was becoming too obvious,” she told The Sunday Times. “These were young girls going to the same restaurants we were going to. There was no discretion, nothing.”
During the divorce proceedings, Jocelyn claims, Alec began planting stories about her plastic surgeries to “win the divorce” and even “hired a publicist and paid a plastic surgeon to certify that he had completely changed my face.”
“He couldn’t say I betrayed him; I never betrayed him,” Jocelyn said, claiming her ex-husband once insisted that “she became a monster… I don’t recognize her.”
“He put all the blame on my face,” Jocelyn said.
However, rumors abounded that Alec, a known cat lover, encouraged his wife to undergo surgeries to appear more feminine.
Wildenstein has made headlines over the years for her high-profile divorce, her feline appearance and once for attacking her boyfriend in 2016 (pictured).
Jocelyn rose to international fame after her divorce from Alec, a renowned art dealer, right, in the 1990s. She claims his infidelity led her to file for divorce.
Jocelyn got a $2.5 million divorce settlement and a $100 million payout every year thereafter. But the payments stopped in 2015 when her family cut her off, she says.
He denied those claims in an interview with Vanity Fair at the time.
“She was crazy,” Alec insisted. “I was always the last to know.”
“She thought she could arrange her face like a piece of furniture,” he said. “Skin doesn’t work like that. But she didn’t listen.”
Still, Jocelyn won the case, taking home a $2.5 million settlement with $100 million guaranteed each year thereafter “to continue the lifestyle and work of her 20s.”
She was also allowed to keep her ex-husband’s surname.
But his good luck apparently ended in 2015, when Alec’s family decided to cut off his settlement payments.
Three years later, he declared bankruptcy.
At the time, The Sunday Times reported, Jocelyn recorded her current account balance as ‘$0’ even though she still had millions of dollars in assets, most of which were properties.
Jocelyn and her longtime fiancé, French-Canadian designer Lloyd Klein, are filming an HBO documentary series about her life. The two are pictured in New York City in September.
Jocelyn Wildenstein, 82, met Alec Wildenstein on safari in Africa. She is pictured here aged 15, before undergoing extensive plastic surgery.
His three luxury apartments in Trump Tower have been foreclosed on and he now says he has no money at all.
“Zero, nothing in eight years,” he told the Times.
Her fiancé, a French-Canadian designer, said he was making a documentary series to tell his side of the story and potentially recoup some money.
She called the HBO project “her response” to the public, which has scrutinized her life and her infamous plastic surgeries.
She is also planning a reality series produced by the team behind Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
“Jocelyn wants to tell the story in her own voice,” he said, with Wildenstein adding: “I’ve never been public. It’s not my nature.”
But Klein also told the paper that he has bigger plans for his fiancée: “I want to have a series of films about Jocelyn’s life, and I would like Jennifer Lawrence to play young Jocelyn,” he said, adding that he would cast Rami Malek to play Alec.