Georgina Chapman ‘humiliated and broken’ after Harvey Weinstein allegations

Georgina Chapman has spoken for the first time since she left husband Harvey Weinstein, saying she was “so humiliated and so broken” after the allegations of sexual misconduct emerged against him.

The Marchesa fashion designer said she was “never” suspicious about his behaviour, and described him as a “wonderful partner” to her during their 10 years of marriage.

She told US Vogue she did not go out in public for five months after women began to make accusations about her husband’s behaviour, ranging from sexual harassment to rape, and she announced she was leaving him.

She told the magazine: “I was so humiliated and so broken…that…I…didn’t think it was respectful to go out.

“I thought, ‘Who am I to be parading around with all of this going on?’ It’s still so very, very raw. I was walking up the stairs the other day and I stopped; it was like all the air had been punched out of my lungs.”

Chapman added that she has begun to see a therapist, saying: “At first I couldn’t, because I was too shocked. And I somehow felt that I didn’t deserve it.

“And then I realised, ‘This has happened. I have to own it. I have to move forward.

“There was a part of me that was terribly naive — clearly, so naive. I have moments of rage. I have moments of confusion. I have moments of disbelief!

“And I have moments when I just cry for my children. What are their lives going to be? What are people going to say to them?

“It’s like, they love their dad. They love him. I just can’t bear it for them!”

After the first piece alleging Weinstein’s harassment was published in the New York Times in October 2017, followed by New Yorker articles that contained allegations of rape, Chapman says she “lost 10 pounds in five days”, and took refuge with her friend, actor David Oyelowo, and his wife Jessica.

She said: “My head was spinning. And it was difficult because the first article was about a time long before I’d ever met him, so there was a minute where I couldn’t make an informed decision.

“And then the stories expanded and I realised that this wasn’t an isolated incident. And I knew that I needed to step away and take the kids out of here.”

Asked if they had had a good marriage, she said: “That’s what makes this so incredibly painful: I had what I thought was a very happy marriage. I loved my life.”

Questioned if she was every suspicious about his behaviour, she replied: “Absolutely not. Never.”

Discussing what her initial attraction to him was, she said: “He’s charismatic. He’s an incredibly bright, very learned man. And very charitable.

“He paid for a friend of mine’s mother, who had breast cancer, to go to a top doctor. He was amazing like that. He is amazing like that. That is the tough part of this… this black-and-white thing… life isn’t like that.”

She added: “He was a wonderful partner to me. He was a friend and a confidant and a supporter. Yes, he’s a big personality… But I don’t know. I wish I had the answers. But I don’t.”

A representative for Weinstein has been contacted for comment.