Kate Spade’s father spoke to her on Monday night, just a few hours before she was found dead in her New York City apartment.
Earl “Frank” Brosnahan said that his fashion mogul daughter was excited and animated on Monday night. He told reporters from the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that the conversation has centered mainly around a trip Spade was planning with her 13-year-old daughter to take her to California.
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“She was happy and we made plans to meet in California,” Brosnahan recounted in the interview. He echoed the statement of Spade’s husband, Andy, who said that Kate had quietly struggled with depression and anxiety for many years. Although it was never a part of her public image, Kate Spade reportedly sought treatment and took medication for her mental health.
Brosnahan said that in their final conversation, he had urged his daughter to quit the fashion industry altogether. In her years of work, Spade had made more than enough money to live comfortably, and he felt that she would be happier without the stress and pressure of her job.
“She didn’t want to,” he said. “She liked the business.”
The 89-year-old was completely caught off guard by the sudden loss, as was the rest of the family.
Andy Spade released a statement on Wednesday denying many of the reports that the death had been caused by marital troubles. In text messages sent to the Wall Street Journal, he called her sudden passing “devastating and a total shock to my family.”
“We were not going through a divorce,” he wrote. “We had an amicable separation and had dinner with our daughter and got along and were trying to work things out.”
In his longer statement, he gave more details on their strained familial situation.
“For the past 10 months we had been living separately, but within a few blocks of each other,” he wrote. “Bea was living with both of us and we saw each other or spoke every day. We ate many meals together as a family and continued to vacation together as a family. Our daughter was our priority.”
“We were not legally separated, and never even discussed divorce. We were best friends trying to work through our problems in the best way we knew how. We were together for 35 years. We loved each other very much and simply needed a break.”
He also lashed out against the reports of a suicide note, which many sources say was addressed to their daughter, Frances Beatrix Spade.
“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.”
If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
