Kate Spade's husband wears a mouse mask as he's spotted for the first time since wife's death
There are ways to don a disguise and avoid press attention but, for the newly-grieving husband of fashion designer Kate Spade, the disguise happened to be a mouse mask that garnered even more attention.
According to Page Six, Andy Spade was spotted in public for the first time after his wife's tragic death on Thursday morning hiding his face behind a mouse mask.
He threw this bizarre disguise and left his Park Avenue home in the Upper East Side building at 8:30 am — two days after his wife, Kate, was found dead in the apartment. The mask was that of Bernard, a cartoon mouse voiced by Bob Newhart in the 1977 movie 'The Rescuers'. The film depicts the fictional character with a grinning bucktoothed face, black whiskers, wearing a red newsboy cap and matching turtleneck.
The 55-year-old was dressed in a buttoned-up denim jacket as he slowly walked to his black Chevy Suburban while holding a coffee mug and clutching a green notebook under his arm. He carried a stuffed blue and yellow backpack. Reporters surrounded him but he ignored to answer any of the questions shot at him. “Do you know the meaning of privacy?” he snapped as he climbed into the SUV.
The appearance came hours after he released a lengthy statement about the death of his wife. "Kate was the most beautiful woman in the world," Spade said. "My daughter and I are devastated by her loss."
In the statement, he confirmed that 55-year-old Kate battled mental illness. “Kate suffered from depression and anxiety for many years,” the statement said. “She was actively seeking help and working closely with her doctors to treat her disease. She was taking medication for both depression and anxiety. There was no substance or alcohol abuse."
Kate and Andy had been married for 24 years and were a longtime business partner. In fact, Kate launched her multibillion-dollar empire with her then-boyfriend Andy with his $35,000 savings. The duo had garnered huge success with their handbag line called Kate Spade New York.
On June 5, Kate committed suicide by hanging herself in her bedroom at her Manhattan apartment. In a statement, Andy said the two had been living separately for the past 10 months but denied divorce was on the table.
Andy spoke out against the publishing of Kate’s apparent suicide note that addressed their 13-year-old daughter, Frances Beatrix.
“I have yet to see any note left behind and am appalled that a private message to my daughter has been so heartlessly shared with the media,” Spade said. Many have been critical of Kate’s reported suicide note that told her daughter she was not to blame, but to ask her father instead.
Funeral arrangements for Kate Spade have not yet been announced.
