Vogue’s former editor-at-large Andre Leon Talley says he’s being evicted from the $1million New York home he claims he owns in messy legal battle with ex-Manolo Blahnik CEO who argues he actually owes $500k in rent
- Andre Leon Talley, 72, has been living at the 11-room home in White Plains, just outside of Manhattan, since 2004 and claims that he is now the rightful owner
- He says his former friend George Malkemus, who is the ex-CEO of Manolo Blahnik USA, originally bought the home for him for just over $1 million
- He says they had a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ that he would pay him back over time
- He now alleges, however, that Malkemus is trying to evict him from the home so he can sell it for his own profit
- Talley was appointed creative director of Vogue by Anna Wintour back in 1983
Vogue’s former editor-at-large Andre Leon Talley has claimed he is being forced out of his $1 million New York home by the ex-CEO of Manolo Blahnik who is alleging he actually owes $500,000 in rent.
Talley, 72, has been living at the 11-room colonial home in White Plains, just outside of Manhattan, since 2004 and claims that he is now the rightful owner.
He says his former friend George Malkemus, who is the ex-CEO of Manolo Blahnik USA, originally bought the home for him for just over $1 million and they had a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ that he would pay him back over time.
In court documents seen by the New York Post, Talley claims he provided the $120,000 down payment for the home and had paid back $1,075,588 by January 2020.
He also alleges that he personally invested more than $200,000 for home improvements over time.
Vogue’s former editor-at-large Andre Leon Talley, 72, has been living at the 11-room colonial home (pictured above) in White Plains, just outside of Manhattan, since 2004 and claims that he is now the rightful owner
Talley claims that under the ‘gentleman’s agreement’, Malkemus and his husband Anthony Yurgaitis were meant to transfer the title of the home to him after he paid back the purchasing price.
He says former friend George Malkemus (above in 2012), the ex-CEO of Manolo Blahnik USA, originally bought the home for him for just over $1 million and they had a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ that he would pay him back over time. Talley now claims Malkemus is trying to evict him
He now alleges, however, that Malkemus and Yurgaitis are trying to evict him from the home so they can sell it for their own profit.
In their own court documents, Malkemus and Yurgaitis have launched non-payment proceedings against Talley in order to evict him, alleging the former Vogue editor owes $515,872 in rent.
Talley says there is no lease agreement for the home and that he made episodic payments over time depending on his income, which he believed were equity repayments that would lead to the title transfer.
‘The parties agreed that Talley would exclusively own, occupy and care for the home. It was agreed and always understood that Talley would, over time, ‘pay off’ the balance of the purchase price paid by the defendants at which point title would then formally be transferred to Talley,’ his court documents say.
‘The timing and amount of these episodic payments were based on Talley’s cash flow… Talley never made these payments to the Defendants on a monthly basis, and was not asked to.’
In court documents, Talley claims he provided the $120,000 down payment for the home (above) and had paid back $1,075,588 by January 2020. He also alleges that he personally invested more than $200,000 for home improvements over time
Talley was appointed creative director of Vogue by Anna Wintour back in 1983. Talley revealed in his memoir that his friendship with Wintour, who was once him mentor, was over
According to his court documents, Talley and Malkemus had previously assisted each other in personal and business matters.
Talley claims he was renting a property in 2004 but needed to move promptly after encountering a mold issue. He says he couldn’t obtain traditional financing at the time because of his demanding work schedule.
He alleges that Malkemus and Yurgaitis, who were “long-time, trusted friends”, agreed to help him buy the home.
Talley argues that Malkemus and Yurgaitis first started talking to him about selling the property in March last year.
Talley says the couple asked him to make additional payments or vacate the home so they could sell it.
He claims these discussions took place just before a bankruptcy petition was filed against Manolo Blahnik USA.
Talley says the couple then filed the non-payment lawsuit against him in November.
‘Since 2004 Talley has always operated with the understanding the home was his, and that the arrangement could be formalized upon his repayment of the purchase price of the home,’ Talley’s court documents say.
Talley claims that under the ‘gentleman’s agreement’, Malkemus and his husband Anthony Yurgaitis were meant to transfer the title of the home to him after he paid back the purchasing price
In his lawsuit, Talley is demanding that he be allowed to stay in the property and that the title be transferred in his name.
An attorney for Malkemus and Yurgaitis said he is preparing a counterclaim that will address their side of the story.
‘Remember, the initial complaint was for eviction in Greenburgh Town Court. Malkemus and Yurgaitis are the record owners of the house and want to sell it,’ the attorney said.
‘He is desperate to stay and they concocted their ‘story’.’
Talley retired from editing back in 2014.
He was taken on by Anna Wintour at American Vogue in 1983 and was promoted to creative director. Talley stayed working there for 30 years.
Talley revealed in his memoir that his friendship with Wintour, who was once him mentor, was over.
He said he has ‘huge emotional and psychological scars’ from his decades long friendship with the magazine’s notoriously icy editor.
The editor described being frozen out by Wintour in 2019 because he was ‘too old, too overweight, too uncool’ for her.
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