Moving on after a bitter marital breakup is never easy. But when your former husband was movie boss Harvey Weinstein, one of the most maligned and infamous men of recent times, the idea of starting life over – let alone finding new love – must seem like a task of Sisyphean proportions .
And yet, this week, Weinstein’s ex-wife, Georgina Chapman, the privately educated British fashion executive, showed that she has accomplished just that — and more.
For the beautiful Ms. Chapman was back on the Golden Globes red carpet, making an assured return to elite circles, on the arm of her new lover: acclaimed actor Adrien Brody.
Not only was she by Brody’s side as he celebrated his Golden Globe win for his role in The Brutalist, but he paid a lavish tribute to her from the stage, saying, “To my beautiful and wonderful partner Georgina, your generosity of spirit, your own resilience, your enormous creativity, are a daily reminder of how to live.’
That resilience Brody spoke of was a clear reference to her rocky recent past — because Chapman has needed every ounce of it to bounce back from her marriage to Weinstein, who was convicted of rape and sexual assault in 2020 and sentenced to 23 years in prison . .
In April last year, his convictions were overturned in New York and he is currently awaiting a new trial.
Accused of rape and sexual assault by approximately 80 women; his demise was a seismic cultural event, sparking the powerful MeToo movement.
The humiliation of discovering that your husband was such a prolific sexual abuser cannot be overestimated. But that trauma seemed far behind Chapman, 48, on Sunday night, with her and Brody, 51, apparently “all over each other.”
Harvey Weinstein and Georgina Chapman pictured together in September 2008
Adrien Brody and Georgina Chapman attend the launch of the new Aston Martin Vanquish on September 2
Harvey Weinstein and actor Adrien Brody pictured together at an afterparty in 2006
No one will say the couple is engaged, or comment on the rumors that they’re already married, but they live together in upstate New York — along with her mother, her two Weinstein children, and a menagerie of pets. People close to them say the couple has never looked more in love.
Their bond, they say, is profound. Chapman even calls Brody her “twin brother” because they happen to share a birthday – something they discovered when they first met at a party hosted by friend and model Helena Christensen in 2019. Of course, Chapman knows all too well the pressure put on actors by Hollywood. Her ex-husband was the king of the Oscars and his Miramax films received more than 300 nominations.
Now his ex-wife’s new boyfriend is lining up for a boyfriend himself – which would be his second – with Chapman firmly by his side.
The Weinstein scandal was a personal disaster for Chapman, and she did well to survive. Her husband’s disgrace in 2017 was followed in short order by their separation, a $15 million settlement and a divorce, which was finalized in 2021.
Chapman — who met Weinstein when she was an actress, and into whose fashion company he poured money and considerable industry influence — said in her only interview on the subject with Vogue magazine that she had no idea of her husband’s proclivities.
After he was exposed, she withdrew from public life, their houses were sold and for a time she lived in London, so damaging was any association with Weinstein.
Despite her difficulties, Chapman said she felt unable to ask for any sympathy given the suffering his many victims had suffered.
Harvey Weinstein, center, will appear in criminal court in New York in September 2024
Adrien Brody and Georgina Chapman attend the 82nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton on January 5
In the Vogue interview she said: ‘There was a part of me that was terribly naive. I have moments of anger, I have moments of confusion, I have moments of disbelief! And I have moments where I just cry for my children. What will their life be?
‘What are people going to say to them? It’s like they love their father. They love him. I just can’t put up with them.”
Those children are now 13 and 11. Their three older half-siblings – all girls – from Weinstein’s first marriage are said to have chosen not to see him, but the two young people do.
I’m told they visited their father at Wende Prison and Bellevue Prison Hospital, both in New York, where he was being held. They also have Zoom calls with him. Weinstein’s hospitalization is due to his poor health: he uses a wheelchair, goes blind, has diabetes, arthritis, spinal stenosis, anemia, sleep apnea, high blood pressure and coronary artery disease.
A source close to Weinstein said: ‘He sees his two children with Georgina, they also talk to him on the phone. He maintains a good relationship with them. Being close to them means the world to him. There is no bitterness in Georgina. He is happy for her and hopes it stays that way.
‘They have a cordial relationship. They talk about things that are necessary for the children and that’s about it.’
Chapman told Vogue that until his fall from grace, she believed they were happy. ‘That makes this so incredibly painful: I had what I thought was a very happy marriage. I loved my life.’
Chapman’s father, Brian, born in Richmond, Surrey, founded the coffee company Percol and her mother, Catherine, was a journalist. Privately educated, she attended Saint David’s boarding school in Ashford, Surrey.
A stint of modelling, waitressing and acting followed, but her career was certainly in a nascent state when she was swept up by Weinstein. With characteristic strength, he supported her when she launched her fashion label Marchesa in 2004.
That company is still going strong without his support and today its annual turnover is estimated at $38.5 million, with Georgina’s brother, Edward, CEO.
Harvey Weinstein and Georgina Chapman pictured together in France in 2017
Adrien Brody and Georgina Chapman attend the Closing Night Red Carpet at the 2024 Red Sea International Film Festival on December 12
When her marriage ended, Chapman said she felt “humiliated and broken.” That said, even before Weinstein was convicted, Chapman had moved on.
She and Adrien Brody — an artsy New Yorker who was single after splitting with model Lara Lieto — were invited to the launch of Helena Christensen’s swimwear line in Puerto Rico in April 2019.
The relationship was quiet and only came out publicly in early 2020. A source said: ‘She thinks he’s unusual. She finds [him] to be an interesting person with a deep passion for his work that is similar to hers.’
The following year saw their first red carpet appearance together. The months passed, the love seemed to deepen, and in 2022 they both attended the Vanity Fair Oscars party in March and the Met Gala in May.
By the time the pair were spotted at the Venice Film Festival in September 2022, he had moved to Chapman’s farm in upstate New York, where she had settled with her children following her divorce from Weinstein. Fortunately, Brody seems to love her children.
There is a sense that, as time goes by, their confidence in being seen as a couple grows. You may want to keep in mind that being seen with someone so closely associated with Weinstein could have been toxic to Brody’s public image.
But last year they attended the Met Gala together again and, as Brody promotes The Brutalist, his life with Chapman is in the spotlight a bit more.
In an interview with Vogue this week, Brody talked about having an art studio for painting in their farmhouse. And Chapman told the magazine: “When he’s in the middle of a role, he’s sitting in the office reading, covered in cats.”
She adds that acting “exhausts him, because he gives so much. He is very sensitive, emotionally he has a thin veil with the world.’
A greater contrast with her ex-husband is hardly imaginable.