Did Diane Von Fürstenberg have an affair with Richard Gere? What we know as husband Barry Diller recalls incident

Fashion icon Diane Von Fürstenberg has always been open about her personal life, especially regarding her romantic relationships over the years. This includes her rumored relationship with actor Richard Gere in the 80s.

Now, as her husband, Barry Diller, opens up about their relationship in his memoir, Who Knew, the story is resurfacing in a new light.

Diane von Fürstenberg enjoyed a supposed short romance with Richard Gere in the eighties when he was establishing himself as a star in the wake of American Gigolo, a Paramount production.

According to US Weekly, as studio head at the time, Diller became professionally and personally entangled in the episode. Von Fürstenberg recollected the incident in her 2014 memoir The Woman I Wanted to Be. Richard Gere’s agent had supposedly cautioned him not to get involved, stating it could damage his career.

Barry Diller was supposedly unhappy with their fling. Although he never faced Diane Von Fürstenberg head-on, she admitted to sensing his disapproval.

"Barry never said anything but I know he was not happy. Barry was always cool, above anything and anyone. He knew it would pass," she wrote.

The affair was not the end of their relationship, but the beginning of a long estrangement. The couple supposedly spent 10 years apart until finally reuniting and getting married in 2001 on Diller’s 59th birthday.

A look into Diane Von Fürstenberg and Barry Diller’s relationship as Diller opens up about his sexuality

Diane Von Fürstenberg and Barry Diller met in the mid-70s, shortly after Diller was named chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures. Fürstenberg was still married to Prince Egon von Fürstenberg when she met Diller, but the pair felt they had an immediate connection.

Diller, 83, for the first time shared details about his being a homosexual and the intricacy of his decades-long partnership with Diane Von Fürstenberg, in a deeply personal essay published on Sunday, May 6, in New York Magazine.

Admitting to his history of same sex attraction, Diller insisted on the depth and distinctiveness of what he shared with Fürstenberg, describing their romance as “an explosion of passion.”

"While there have been a good many men in my life, there has only ever been one woman, and she didn't come into my life until I was 33 years old," he said.

In his memoir, Who Knew, Barry Diller says his love for Diane Von Fürstenberg was never in conflict with his desire for men.

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"Sexual identities are much more fluid and natural, without all those rigidly defined lanes of the last century. yes, I also liked guys, but that was not a conflict with my love for Diane," he remarked.

He has called their bond something that defied conventional sexual orientation and partnership, characterizing their romance as a miracle.

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