Kate Spade’s husband reportedly sought a divorce before her apparent suicide on Tuesday.
TMZ reports that Kate’s husband and creative partner Andy Spade had moved out of the couple’s Park Avenue apartment where the iconic handbag designer reportedly hanged herself on Tuesday morning. Andy was reportedly at the home when Kate’s body was discovered but it is unclear how long he had been there.
Law enforcement sources reportedly told TMZ that their interviews made it clear that Andy wanted a divorce while Kate, 55, did not.
In an email statement to the Kansas City Star, Kate’s older sister Reta Saffo said that Kate had struggled with depression for years, but suggested Spade did not get the treatment she needed in part because she was concerned about how it would impact her public image and brand.
Kate’s suicide “was not unexpected by me,” Saffo wrote, after declining to speak to the Kansas City Star by phone. Saffo said she had taken a sedative.
“I will say this was not unexpected by me. I’d flown out to Napa and NYC several times in the past 3-4 years to help her to get the treatment she needed (inpatient hospitalization). She was always a very excitable little girl and I felt all the stress/pressure of her brand (KS) may have flipped the switch where she eventually became full-on manic depressive,” Saffo continued.
Saffo said she suspected her sister may have been planning to take her own life for some time, and said Kate appeared to be particularly impacted by Robin Williams’ apparent suicide in 2014.
“After numerous attempts, I finally let go,” Saffo wrote. “Sometimes you simply cannot SAVE people from themselves! One of the last things she said to me was, ‘Reta, I know you hate funerals and don’t attend them, but for me would you PLEASE come to MINE, at least. Please!’ I know she perhaps had a plan, but she insisted she did not.”
Spade leaves behind a 13-year-old daughter, Frances Beatrix, who was reportedly at school at the time of her mother’s death.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255.