Kate Spade's Husband Speaks Out About The Truth—And The Lies—Behind His Wife's Suicide
Andy Spade, Kate Spade's husband for 24 years, breaks his silence on his wife's passing by firmly correcting the false claims surrounding the tragedy.
In a lengthy statement given to E! News, the 55-year-old expressed his shock about the death of his wife, who was also his long-time business partner. The two not only nurtured a family together for decades and share a 13-year-old daughter, but also enjoyed a fruitful working relationship as they built the Kate Spade New York empire and more recently, the new high-end fashion label Frances Valentine.
READ: “What You Need To Know About Frances Valentine— Kate Spade’s Last Great Venture”
Providing insight into Kate's death, Andy emphasized that she was consumed by personal demons and succumbed to mental illness. Unlike previous reports that suggested prolonged marital problems and career-related stressors were what pushed Kate to suicide, Andy revealed that Kate was, indeed, being treated for both anxiety and depression for the last five years.
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Supporting Andy's words was a statement from Earl Brosnahan, Kate's older brother, which was also submitted to E! News. In addition to agreeing with Andy, he made sure to rebuke an earlier report made by The Kansas City Star based on a conversation with Reta Saffo, Kate's estranged older sister.
According to Earl, the publication featured erroneous claims made by Reta that Kate refused psychiatric treatment and developed an alcohol dependence in an attempt to self-medicate. Like Andy, Earl made a point to explain that Kate did indeed have "health issues" which she "bravely fought."
While both men were on a mission to stop all speculation surrounding Kate's passing, they both ended their messages by pleading with the media and the public to cease speculating and grant their family privacy.
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Andy in particular singled out his and Kate's daughter, Frances, who has been gravely affected by the event. She became a subject of interest when parts of Kate's suicide note directly addressing Frances were made known to the public.
Read Andy's statement in full below:
"Kate was the most beautiful woman in the world. She was the kindest person I’ve ever known and my best friend for 35 years. My daughter and I are devastated by her loss, and can’t even begin to fathom life without her. We are deeply heartbroken and miss her already.
Kate suffered from depression and anxiety for many years. She was actively seeking help and working closely with her doctors to treat her disease, one that takes far too many lives. We were in touch with her the night before and she sounded happy. There was no indication and no warning that she would do this. It was a complete shock. And it clearly wasn’t her. There were personal demons she was battling.
READ: The Late Kate Spade's Celebrity Clients Share Their Thoughts On Her Tragic Death
For the past 10 months we had been living separately, but within a few blocks of each other. Bea was living with both of us and we saw each other or spoke every day. We ate many meals together as a family and continued to vacation together as a family. Our daughter was our priority. We were not legally separated, and never even discussed divorce. We were best friends trying to work through our problems in the best way we knew how. We were together for 35 years. We loved each other very much and simply needed a break.
This is the truth. Anything else that is out there right now is false. She was actively seeking help for depression and anxiety over the last 5 years, seeing a doctor on a regular basis and taking medication for both depression and anxiety. There was no substance or alcohol abuse. There were no business problems. We loved creating our businesses together. We were co-parenting our beautiful daughter. I have yet to see any note left behind and am appalled that a private message to my daughter has been so heartlessly shared with the media.
My main concern is Bea and protecting her privacy as she deals with the unimaginable grief of losing her mother. Kate loved Bea so very much."
Andy's statement is the most recent testimony to be shared about Kate Spade's death. The late fashion designer's clientele, as well as niece and brother-in-law David Spade have all shared their thoughts about the tragedy.
Photo from "SINGLE STORIES: Andy Spade - My Own Community" from the SundanceTV YouTube channel
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