Michael Wolff Files for Divorce Without Telling His Wife
USA Today media critic and Rupert Murdoch biographer Michael Wolff is legally married to Cold Spring lawyer Alison Anthoine, from whom he famously separated in 2009 to pursue a then-28-year-old Vanity Fair intern named Victoria Floethe (pictured above with Wolff). While it’s not clear what happened with Wolff and Floethe—the pair were photographed at a Financial Times party in 2012—the former’s marriage remained intact, at least by the courts. No more.
Five years after separating, Wolff has finally applied for what appears to be an official divorce—but without informing Anthoine, the mother of their three children, who evicted Wolff after his affair with Floethe publicly captivated New York’s media circles.
Last week, Wolff filed a matrimonial action against his wife in the Supreme Court of New York in lower Manhattan. Such actions are kept sealed in New York State. They are, however, acknowledged by a docket entry, listing the names of the plaintiff and defendant, and designated by index numbers that begin with “3.” The index number for Wolff v. Anthoine is 305911-2014.
When reached by telephone, Anthoine said she was unaware that Wolff had filed a matrimonial action against her. “He has not filed for divorce,” she told Gawker. When provided evidence of Wolff’s filing, Anthoine amended her response: “Well, this is the first time I’ve heard of it.”
Anthoine suggested that she and Wolff had recently discussed their marriage. “Neither of us intends to file,” she said, adding, “Both of us intend to resolve this amicably.”
“We don’t speak often,” Anthoine said of her relationship with Wolff. That said, the separated couple do communicate electronically: “We email, we chat, we are in touch.” Anthoine declined further comment about Wolff.
According to records maintained by the New York State Bar Association, Anthoine lives in Putnam County, New York. Her husband lives in New York City, where he frequently writes about the private lives and dissolute marriages of media titans (like Rupert Murdoch) and politicians (like Silvio Berlusconi).
Wolff declined to acknowledge requests for comment, and it is not clear who is representing the critic in his matrimonial action. A former attorney of Wolff and Anthoine’s, John L. Overland, Jr., referred Gawker to Steven Wagner of the New York City firm Porzio, Bromberg & Newman. Wagner did not immediately acknowledge a request for comment.
Update, 5/14/15: Steven Wagner tells Gawker he is not representing Wolff in the matrimonial action.
To contact the author of this post, email trotter@gawker.com
