The Woman Truman Capote Destroyed After She Trusted Him With Everything: Babe Paley's Tragedy
Old Money Allure
101,594 views
This documentary explores how Barbara "Babe" Paley became America's most photographed woman for two decades, trusted Truman Capote with her deepest secrets about husband William Paley's chronic infidelities, then watched him destroy their twenty-year friendship by publishing "La Cote Basque 1965" in November 1975 Esquire, triggering her permanent silence until death.
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Barbara Cushing was born July 5, 1915, to neurosurgery pioneer Harvey Cushing and Katharine Stone Crowell Cushing, who trained her three daughters as strategic assets in Boston's social hierarchy.
Her sisters executed the Cushing training perfectly—Betsey married FDR's son James Roosevelt then Ambassador Jock Whitney, while Minnie married Titanic heir Vincent Astor then art advisor James Fosburgh.
Babe worked at Glamour magazine in 1935 before moving to Vogue as fashion editor, surviving a devastating 1937 car accident that shattered her jaw and required extensive reconstructive surgery.
She married oil heir Stanley Mortimer Jr. on October 15, 1940, at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in East Hampton, but he returned from World War II as an alcoholic with untreated mental illness.
After divorcing Mortimer in 1946 with children Stanley III and Amanda, Babe met CBS founder William Paley, who had built his broadcasting empire from 16 failing radio stations purchased for $400,000 in 1928.
They married July 28, 1947, four days after Bill's divorce was finalized, giving Babe the fourteen-room apartment at 960 Fifth Avenue and estates including Kiluna Farm in Manhasset, Long Island.
Babe appeared on the International Best Dressed List for eleven consecutive years before elevation to the Hall of Fame, becoming famous for tying Hermes scarves around handbag handles rather than wearing them.
Photographed by Cecil Beaton and Horst P. Horst, she entertained with precision that made other wealthy people anxious about their flower arrangements while managing a domestic empire spanning multiple continents.
Bill Paley conducted chronic, conspicuous infidelities throughout their thirty-year marriage, including affairs with Pamela Harriman and other prominent women, while Babe maintained perfect public silence.
Truman Capote entered her life in the early 1950s during his peak years following "Other Voices, Other Rooms" and before "In Cold Blood" established him as America's most celebrated writer.
He called his group of celebrated female friends "his swans," including Babe alongside Slim Keith, C.Z. Guest, Gloria Guinness, and Marella Agnelli—all women with immaculate public images hiding private complications.
Babe confided in Capote about Bill's humiliating affairs during twenty years of friendship, trusting him as the one safe repository for pain she could share with no one else.
In November 1975, Esquire published "La Cote Basque 1965," a chapter from Capote's promised novel "Answered Prayers" that was transparently about their social circle.
The chapter included a devastating story about a prominent man and wife involving incriminating sheets from a hotel affair—universally understood to be William and Babe Paley.
Capote had taken Babe's most private confidences about her marriage and published them as entertainment for millions of Esquire readers, disguising her pain as literature.
Babe set down the magazine at 960 Fifth Avenue and never spoke to Truman Capote again—not that afternoon, not the following week, not in the three years she had left.
Her response was complete silence, maintained with absolute discipline while lung cancer was diagnosed in the same cruel year, 1975, after decades of cigarette smoking.
Bill Paley continued traveling and socializing during Babe's illness with regularity noted by their entire social circle, pursuing his comfort while she declined to approximately 80 pounds.
Barbara Cushing Mortimer Paley died July 6, 1978, one day after her 63rd birthday, having never broken her silence about the betrayal that ended her most trusted friendship.
Capote died August 25, 1984, at age 59 from liver disease, having never completed "Answered Prayers"—the masterpiece that was supposed to justify destroying the most intimate relationships of his life.
20 Comments
With IN COLD BLOOD all if that disappeared with capotes out of control , severe alcoholism . He became a jaded , Vicious clown . An untalented , out of control wreck of a creature intentionally destroying everything & everyone in his path.
The Woman Truman Capote Destroyed After She Trusted Him With Everything: Babe Paley's Tragedy
Old Money Allure
101,594 views
This documentary explores how Barbara "Babe" Paley became America's most photographed woman for two decades, trusted Truman Capote with her deepest secrets about husband William Paley's chronic infidelities, then watched him destroy their twenty-year friendship by publishing "La Cote Basque 1965" in November 1975 Esquire, triggering her permanent silence until death.
-------------------
Gain FREE access to secret full-length documentaries on wealthy families "too scandalous for YouTube" by joining our newsletter: https://www.substack.com/@oldmoneyluxury
-------------------
Barbara Cushing was born July 5, 1915, to neurosurgery pioneer Harvey Cushing and Katharine Stone Crowell Cushing, who trained her three daughters as strategic assets in Boston's social hierarchy.
Her sisters executed the Cushing training perfectly—Betsey married FDR's son James Roosevelt then Ambassador Jock Whitney, while Minnie married Titanic heir Vincent Astor then art advisor James Fosburgh.
Babe worked at Glamour magazine in 1935 before moving to Vogue as fashion editor, surviving a devastating 1937 car accident that shattered her jaw and required extensive reconstructive surgery.
She married oil heir Stanley Mortimer Jr. on October 15, 1940, at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in East Hampton, but he returned from World War II as an alcoholic with untreated mental illness.
After divorcing Mortimer in 1946 with children Stanley III and Amanda, Babe met CBS founder William Paley, who had built his broadcasting empire from 16 failing radio stations purchased for $400,000 in 1928.
They married July 28, 1947, four days after Bill's divorce was finalized, giving Babe the fourteen-room apartment at 960 Fifth Avenue and estates including Kiluna Farm in Manhasset, Long Island.
Babe appeared on the International Best Dressed List for eleven consecutive years before elevation to the Hall of Fame, becoming famous for tying Hermes scarves around handbag handles rather than wearing them.
Photographed by Cecil Beaton and Horst P. Horst, she entertained with precision that made other wealthy people anxious about their flower arrangements while managing a domestic empire spanning multiple continents.
Bill Paley conducted chronic, conspicuous infidelities throughout their thirty-year marriage, including affairs with Pamela Harriman and other prominent women, while Babe maintained perfect public silence.
Truman Capote entered her life in the early 1950s during his peak years following "Other Voices, Other Rooms" and before "In Cold Blood" established him as America's most celebrated writer.
He called his group of celebrated female friends "his swans," including Babe alongside Slim Keith, C.Z. Guest, Gloria Guinness, and Marella Agnelli—all women with immaculate public images hiding private complications.
Babe confided in Capote about Bill's humiliating affairs during twenty years of friendship, trusting him as the one safe repository for pain she could share with no one else.
In November 1975, Esquire published "La Cote Basque 1965," a chapter from Capote's promised novel "Answered Prayers" that was transparently about their social circle.
The chapter included a devastating story about a prominent man and wife involving incriminating sheets from a hotel affair—universally understood to be William and Babe Paley.
Capote had taken Babe's most private confidences about her marriage and published them as entertainment for millions of Esquire readers, disguising her pain as literature.
Babe set down the magazine at 960 Fifth Avenue and never spoke to Truman Capote again—not that afternoon, not the following week, not in the three years she had left.
Her response was complete silence, maintained with absolute discipline while lung cancer was diagnosed in the same cruel year, 1975, after decades of cigarette smoking.
Bill Paley continued traveling and socializing during Babe's illness with regularity noted by their entire social circle, pursuing his comfort while she declined to approximately 80 pounds.
Barbara Cushing Mortimer Paley died July 6, 1978, one day after her 63rd birthday, having never broken her silence about the betrayal that ended her most trusted friendship.
Capote died August 25, 1984, at age 59 from liver disease, having never completed "Answered Prayers"—the masterpiece that was supposed to justify destroying the most intimate relationships of his life.
Gain FREE access to secret full-length documentaries on wealthy families "too scandalous for YouTube" by joining our newsletter: https://www.substack.com/@oldmoneyluxury