New York Gossip Queen Liz Smith passes away aged 94

Gossip columnist Liz Smith passed away over the weekend. She was 94.

Her literary agent, Joni Evans, told The Associated Press she died of natural causes.

Among Smith’s most popular work is the 1991 chronicle of Donald and Ivana Trump’s divorce. This happened while she was working at Newsday.

She spent three months documenting the divorce. Smith publicly sided with Ivana.

Smith wrote: ‘She still wants to be his wife. But the bottom line is, she won’t give up her self-respect to do it,

‘Intimates say she had every chance to continue being Mrs. Trump by allowing her husband to live in an open marriage.’

It was reported by New York Times Donald Trump wanted to buy Newsday just so he could fire her.

It is said the reporting on this divorce ‘made Liz’ although she later said she regretted the role she came to play in the story.

Smith explained to New York Times: ‘I was horrified at the way he treated her, and I made the mistake of defending her,

‘This is always fatal for your aspirations to be taken seriously as a reporter. But I had no choice. I had to be nice to them for a while to get access to them.’

Smith wrote for multiple newspapers and magazines over her time.

She spoke favorably about Madonna while writing for New York Social Diary.

The journalist wrote: ‘In the end, I think it will be her ballads, rather than her dance music, that will define her for future generations.’

She began making regularly on NBC News and Fox News in 1978 to discuss celebrity news and gossip.

‘Gender neutrality’

Natural Blonde was published in 2000. It was in this memoir Smith came out as bisexual. She called it ‘gender neutrality.’

She dated socialite and archaeologist Iris Love after two divorces from male partners.

Smith then spoke to The Advocate in their December 2000 issue about her sexuality and dating.

This was the first time she had spoken to the ‘gay press.’

‘I think that my relationships with women were always much more emotionally satisfying and comfortable,’ she said.

She continued: ‘And a lot of my relationships with men were more flirtatious and adversarial. I just never felt I was wife material. I always felt that I was a great girlfriend.’

In her interview with The Advocate she also explained she didn’t like labels and she was not living her life to be ‘an inspiration or a role model.’

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