Former Right-Hand Man: Wintour Gave Me 'Scars'

Andre Leon Talley tells of 'huge emotional and psychological scars' in new book
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 24, 2020 8:25 AM CDT
Former Right-Hand Man: Wintour Gave Me 'Scars'
Andre Leon Talley, Anna Wintour, and others watch the presentation of the Oscar de la Renta 2008 spring/summer collection in New York on Sept. 10, 2007.   (AP Photo/Dima Gavrysh)

It was the 2003 novel The Devil Wears Prada, written by a former assistant of Anna Wintour, that cast the Vogue editor-in-chief as a nightmare. Almost two decades later, a new book from her former right-hand man reportedly confirms some of the narrative. In a memoir that will be out in September, former Vogue editor-at-large Andre Leon Talley says Wintour is "not capable" of "kindness"—that's per the Daily Mail, which says it obtained a galley copy, and Page Six's source, who confirmed the passages. "I have huge emotional and psychological scars from my relationship with this towering and influential woman," who is "immune to anyone other than the powerful and famous," the 70-year-old reportedly writes, per the Daily Beast.

Talley worked with Wintour at Vogue for some three decades. Most recently, he interviewed celebrities on a podcast, canceled in 2016, and at Wintour's annual Met Gala. He was replaced in that role in 2018 by then-22-year-old YouTube star Liza Koshy. "I am no longer of value to her," he reportedly writes, noting in reference to the Met Gala shakeup that he was cast aside in "a stone-cold business decision." "I had suddenly become too old, too overweight, too uncool, I imagined, for Anna Wintour." Talley, who refers to her as "empress Wintour," adds, "Simple human kindness. No, she is not capable." The Chiffon Trenches—which also tells of his dealings with the rich and famous—is to be released Sept. 8. (More Anna Wintour stories.)

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