André Leon Talley Faces Eviction From New York Home
The former ‘Vogue’ editor is embroiled in a lawsuit alleging he owes over $500,000 USD in rent.
André Leon Talley, former Vogue editor-at-large, is facing eviction from the White Plains home he has inhabited since 2004. The fashion journalist, now the subject of a lawsuit first reported on by The New York Post, allegedly owes over $500,000 USD in rent to the owners of the 11-room house, former Manolo Blahnik executive George Malkemus and his business partner and husband, Anthony Yurgaitis.
Malkemus and Yurgaitis, longtime colleagues and friends of Talley’s, bought the home in 2004 with the understanding that Talley would live in it and pay rent each month. The house’s title would be transferred to Talley once he paid off the purchase price, approximately $1 million USD, an agreement that was never formalized in writing. Instead, the three signed a two-year lease that was renewable for up to eight years. After the lease expired in 2014, it was never resigned — Talley continued to pay monthly fees that varied in amount depending on his income.
It wasn’t until November 2020 that Malkemus and Yurgaitis filed to evict Talley. Talley has filed a counterclaim requesting the home be put in a trust until its title is transferred. His monthly payments towards the house allegedly total $955,558 USD, not including the thousands of dollars he reportedly paid to maintain and improve the mansion. As The New York Times points out, both parties’ lawsuits highlight the fine line between business and friendship, as well as the issue of “gifting” within the fashion industry.
Following media coverage of Talley’s eviction battle, artist and stylist Akeem Smith launched a GoFundMe to help the former editor pay the $500,000 USD he allegedly owes. “Everyone in fashion has benefitted from André Leon Talley’s contribution to the industry,” Smith wrote on the fundraiser’s landing page. “André has not asked me to do this, but I believe this is the right thing to do.”
