Wife Describes Cocaine-Fueled End of Dynastic Hollywood Marriage
California oil heir Peter Getty ended his marriage in a hazy, abusive binge of cocaine and pornography, according to recent court papers filed by his soon-to-be-ex wife. Welcome to the nasty divorce exploding the "nexus of hipster Hollywood."
A hearing is scheduled in a Los Angeles County court tomorrow morning to address charges of domestic violence against Peter Getty. On one side of the related divorce is Jacqui Getty, mother to famed director Francis Ford Coppola's granddaughter Gia; on the other is Peter, an heir to the oil fortune of California's moneyed Getty family, former proprietor of indie label Emperor Norton Records and onetime Gawker hater.
Harper's Bazaar has placed Jacqui, a stylist, at the "nexus of hipster Hollywood;" Peter and Jacqui's circle of friends reportedly included actors Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Heather Graham, Sofia Coppola and Jason Schwartzman, another Coppola relative.
The couple entertained their social circle lavishly, spending tens of thousands of dollars on some parties, and Jacqui has said she would need upwards of $300,000 per month to support her current lifestyle, as we reported previously.
She's also leveled accusations of mental and some physical abuse against her husband, accusations expected to be addressed in court tomorrow as Jacqui seeks a restraining order against her husband, along with $350,000 in attorney fees and $539,201 per month in spousal support.
Her charges make it sound like Peter Getty slipped into the most self-destructive sort of state, snorting drugs and binging on internet porn while sequestered in a room by himself in the couple's Malibu beach house (they lived primarily in the Hollywood Hills). Peter has described himself as something of a layabout; though his Emperor Norton records enjoyed some genuine success before shutting down, with acts like Ladytron and the soundstracks to Sofia Coppola's Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation, he has publicly dismissed his record-company work as "not to be confused with serious responsibilities," saying he has only "flirted occasionally with real work."
Jacqui's court filing indicates Peter was well into his addiction when he attached that description to a blog he kept for the San Francisco Chronicle; in the red-boxed sections within the court papers below, she describes this scene happening in June 2008, a full year before the blog began (click to enlarge):
In earlier papers, Jacqui described a menacing conversation in which Peter seemed to threaten her life:
The end of the Peter-Jacqui Getty marriage looks like a fine mess, a reminder of the truth in the old cliché access to fortune and fame is not the same thing as access to a happy and fulfilled life. That said, a nice chunk of his parent's money would certainly help Peter Getty preserve some of his dignity by bringing the divorce proceedings to a swift end, assuming Jacqui Getty is in the market for a nice settlement as we suspect. And, who knows, maybe his parents will leave Peter Getty with enough spare cash to follow in the footsteps of his old buddy Gavin Newsom, the San Francisco mayor and prospective lieutenant governor, and get some rehab for his alleged addictions — and his image.