Kate Spade‘s family are at odds after the late designer’sdeathon Tuesday at age 55.
However, a source close to the family claims Brosnahan Saffo has long been estranged from her designer sister, whom the source says was as a “kind, generous, funny, warm and extremely private person.”
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Brosnahan Saffo, however, reportedly told her local paperThe Kansas City Starvia email that she and Spade spoke on the phone for “6 to 7 hours” on end prior to Spade’s death.
Brosnahan Saffo emailed that her sister had suffered “three to four years of mental illness” and “chickened out” from multiple attempts to seek treatment.
According to Brosnahan Saffo, her late sibling was “concerned how hospitalization might harm the image of the happy-go-lucky Kate Spade brand,” and had “eventually became full-on manic depressive” due to the “stress and pressure” of her empire.
Manic depression is a term once used to discribe bipolar disorder.
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Brosnahan Saffo reached out to her local paper initially to correct the way it had written Spade’s childhood name, Katy. She was asked to speak about her sister with the publication via phone but said, as she was sedated, email was best. It’s unclear what steps the paper took to confirm Saffo’s identity. However, she has previously appeared inThe Star.
In the email, Brosnahan Saffo wrote she had tried to get her sister to seek treatment for her mental illness.
Brosnahan Saffo added, “I’d come so VERY close to getting her to go in for treatment. … We’d get sooo close to packing her bags, but — in the end, the ‘image’ of her brand (happy-go-lucky Kate Spade) was more important for her to keep up. She was definitely worried about what people would say if they found out.”
Brosnahan Saffo suggested her sister had a “plan [to take her own life] already set in motion” as Spade was “fixated” when news broke ofRobin Williamsdeath in August 2014.
Brosnahan Saffo also shared one of the final conversations she said she had with her sister.
“One of the last things she said to me was, ‘Reta, I know you hate funerals and don’t attend them, but for me would you PLEASE come to MINE, at least. Please!’ I know she perhaps had a plan, but she insisted she did not,” she recalled.
A housekeeper discovered her, according to a police source, and she left asuicide noteaddressed to their only child Frances.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
source: people.com
