Former creative director and American editor-at-large of Vogue magazine, André Leon Talley was and still loved by many due to his writing skills and pleasant interactions with people he encountered.
However, before his death, he endured months of a legal battle over his luxury New York home.
André Leon Talley eviction: Did Andre Leon Talley get evicted?
In February 2021, the former CEO of Manolo Blahnik USA, George Malkemus filed a lawsuit against André Leon Talley to evacuate his $1 million mansions in New York.
In the lawsuit, Malkemus alleged that the former editor is $500,000 behind in rent.
The lawsuit came to bear following reports that Talley had fallen out with George Malkemus — who expanded Manolo Blahnik in the US and more recently partnered with Sarah Jessica Parker on her SJP Collection.
Malkemus launched legal action against Talley in a bid to get him out of the palatial White Plains property, the New York Post reported.
Talley had long insisted that the historic 11-room colonial home, with sumptuous gardens at 75 Worthington Road, is his own, telling the New York Times in 2018, “It is my sanctuary.”
However, court documents alleged that the real owners are Malkemus and his business partner and husband Anthony Yurgaitis, who bought the home in 2004 for just over $1 million.
The pair have known Talley for nearly 40 years. Yet on November 12, 2020, Malkemus, “Commenced a summary non-payment proceeding in White Plains City Court … seeking to evict Talley from the home and for a money judgment against Talley in the amount of $515,872,97 representing alleged arrears,” new court papers state.
Talley — who in 1988 was appointed by Anna Wintour to be the creative director of Vogue, the first African-American person to ever hold the position — responded by filing his own lawsuit against Malkemus and Yurgaitis in Westchester Supreme Court on January 25, 2021.
He claims the pair, who were “long-time, trusted friends,” agreed to buy the home for him and transfer the title once he had repaid them the $1,020,000 purchase price.
While Malkemus and Yurgaitis allege Talley is behind in rent, the former Vogue editor-at-large’s filing alleges, “This action arises out of the Defendants’ improper attempt to evict Talley from a home … that is rightfully his, so that they may sell the property.”
He claims that he has lived at the home since and paid back more than the purchase price, totaling $1,075,588, as of January 2020, with his court papers stating: “He has also paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to third parties to maintain and improve the home.”
