André Leon Talley’s account of his tattered relationship with his one-time boss, Anna Wintour, is getting sniggers after DailyMail.com, the website of the British tabloid, released exclusive snippets from an upcoming memoir by Vogue’s former editor at large.
“The Chiffon Trenches: A Memoir,” out in September, details Talley’s bitterness over being cast aside by Wintour because he was “too old, too overweight, too uncool” for Wintour’s tight circle, which includes celebrities like Serena Williams, Roger Federer, and George and Amal Clooney.
Describing Wintour, longtime editor of American Vogue, with whom Talley worked since the 1980s, as “ruthless,” Talley said he was dismissed without word from his last job hosting a podcast at Vogue, and for his annual role doing red-carpet interviews for the annual Met Gala.
“This was clearly a stone-cold business decision… After decades of loyalty and friendship… Anna should have had the decency and kindness to call or send me an email saying: ‘André, I think we have had a wonderful run with your interviews but we are going to try something new.’”
“Nuclear Wintour,” as fashion insiders have come to call the powerful editor, Talley added, is “not capable” of “simple human kindness.”
Talley also wrote that “there are so many who have worked for her and have suffered huge emotional scarring.”
His characterization of Wintour, Talley said, was corroborated by former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, whom Talley quotes as saying of Wintour: “One day she treats me like a good friend and a colleague, and the next day, she treats me as if she had just handed over her keys to an unknown parking valet.”
“I wonder, when she goes home alone at night, is she miserable? Does she feel alone?” Talley wrote. —Cheche V. Moral