Kurt Cobain's wife and ex-addict Courtney Love turned down $100,000 to attend opioid heiress Joss Sackler's NYFW show
Disgraced OxyContin heiress Joss Sackler reportedly tried to lure recovering opioid addict Courtney Love to attend her controversial Fashion Week show by offering her more than $100,000. However, Kurt Cobain's widow would have none of it, saying, “The Sackler family has no shame — I won’t sell out to them.”
Sackler is putting her line LBV on display at the Bowery Hotel Terrace at around 1 pm on Monday. Her husband is David Sackler, whose family owns Purdue Pharma—the company that manufactures OxyContin and faces allegations of making billions off the opioid epidemic in America—which has been linked to over 400,000 deaths, Page Six reports.
The outlet obtained emails from Sackler's team to Love, which said, “Elizabeth Kennedy (LBV creative director) and Joss are huge fans of Courtney … She best embodies the women they are dressing … strong and undeterred.”
“The brand has no relation to Purdue...other than Joss is married to the family," the emails added.
David, who is now the de-facto Purdue spokesperson amid billions of dollars worth of lawsuits against the company, was previously on the board of Purdue and still manages some of the family wealth. It is believed Purdue may try to avoid paying plaintiffs by filing for bankruptcy protection.
Meanwhile, Love just celebrated a year sober after her addiction to OxyContin and Benzos, which are both tranquilizers. “I am one of the most famous reformed junkies on the planet — my husband died on heroin," she told Page Six. "What is it about me that says to Joss Sackler, ’I will sell out to you?’ Well, I won’t.”
According to her, Sackler's team requested her to attend the show and offered her more than $100,000, aside from hair, makeup, car service, as well as a tailor-made “Phoenix” dress from LBV embellished with a 24-carat gold thread. In the emails, they claimed to expect other stars as well, including Suki Waterhouse and Julia Restoin-Roitfeld.
But Love did not agree to "sell-out" to the Sacklers.
“I never would take their money — Joss is delusional, talking about her fashion line and private members club, their ‘philanthropical arm'," she said. "What about instead giving money to rehab facilities, paying for Narcan (a medication that counters opioid overdoses) or creating a non-addictive painkiller?”
“This request from Joss Sackler is shameless and offensive after everything I, many of my friends, and millions of other addicts have been through with OxyContin," the Rock and fashion icon continued. "I’m sober, but I will always be an opioid addict, it doesn’t vanish. I will always be that, I am just in recovery. And, equally. a fashion line with 24-carat gold thread won’t ever cover up or wash away the stains on Joss Sackler and her family.”
Elizabeth Tuke, a spokesperson for LBV and Joss Sackler, claimed the story was "not accurate."
“This is not accurate. Courtney Love is not attending [the show]. I can’t comment any further," she said.