Richmond native Tinsley Mortimer poses during fashion week in New York in 2006. File photo by Scott Elmquist
New York — Richmond’s own Manhattan socialite/model/designer Tinsley Mortimer soon may be an eligible bachelorette.
Gossip hounds in New York and certain social circles are atwitter with reports that Mortimer and her husband, Robert “Topper” Mortimer, are ending their marriage. Neither party returned phone calls, but a source close to Topper confirms the reports.
Tinsley Mortimer, who’s in her early 30s, has plenty of ties with Richmond. She grew up on Cary Street Road, the daughter of wealthy businessman George Mercer Jr., of Mercer Rug & Carpet Cleaning, and Dale Mercer, who claims lineage with Thomas Jefferson. She returns to Richmond occasionally; in 2007 she starred in a fashion shoot at Tuckahoe Plantation for Virginia Living magazine.
Tinsley met Topper Mortimer, who comes from an old-money New York family, at boarding school in New Jersey and eloped with him at 18. After a Mortimer-family-forced annulment, she remarried him after college in 2002.
Since the couple moved to New York Tinsley has skyrocketed to stardom on the New York social scene with her long goldilocks, sculpted nose and impeccable party dresses.
After social-life photographer Patrick McMullan took a liking to Mortimer she began appearing in fashion magazines. (McMullan currently has 2,660 photos of Tinsley Mortimer on his site available for media society pages; her husband appears in 28 of them.)
The fashion shoots launched her famous-for-being-fabulous career. She’s held such titles as “beauty ambassador” for Dior; handbag and clothing designer for Japanese company Samantha Thavasa; cameo star on CW’s “Gossip Girl”; and recently “lifestyle director” for a new condo-hotel project being built at 57th and Fifth Avenue. None of which reportedly pleased her husband.
The first public signs of trouble surfaced in October 2007 when The New York Times published a story wherein Topper Mortimer came clean about his distaste for his wife’s public life. The Times quoted him as saying: “It’s not necessarily the type of goal that anybody should strive for, going out every night for the sake of self-promotion and getting their pictures taken. … These are girls who went to good colleges. You would think they’d have something better to do.”
A year later, The New York Post’s Page Six gossip column reported that the couple began telling friends they were separated, and that the newly slender Topper’s running around is what prompted the quiet leak.
Tinsley, after an uncharacteristic absence from the social circuit, was spotted in England this summer, according to a Vanity Fair blog. Her attendance at one of Europe’s premier social events, the Cartier International Polo Day at the Guards Polo Club, is fueling rumors that she’s after German aristocrat Casimir Wittgenstein-Sayn, son of Prince Alexander of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn and Countess Gabriella of Schonborn-Wiesentheid.
Could Tins be ready to make the leap from Upper East Side to German castle?
Tuesday, August 11, 2009 10:28:33 AM by Jason Roop
Points taken! Thanks for all the thoughtful comments.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009 9:49:28 AM by Constant Reader
Well, Mr. Roop, you are precipitously near the abyss that Richard M. Nixon invoked when he declared that the "Silent Majority" was with him and not with those who were protesting the VietNam War. And, we all all know how that turned out.
I appreciate BillK's trenchant remarks and will add that one reason those who are not "to the manor-born" oft-times have a giddy voyeuristic response to information about those who are is that it affirms that even rich people can have lives that are profoundly lacking.
Monday, August 10, 2009 6:52:05 PM by BillK
Last note: While society pieces do have their worth and place, there is a clear difference between "So WHAT is so-and-so doing now?" and "So WHO is so-and-so doing now?" I think the majority of those who have posted do not necessarily take offense at a society piece being included in your publication, although, granted, there may be those who are annoyed by such journalism. But this is hardly a society piece, an it seems that that is where the comments take issue. This is dirty laundry, and the tone of the report seems to suggest great enjoyment in rolling around in it.
Monday, August 10, 2009 6:11:04 PM by BillK
This sort of giddily-delivered voyeuristic drama, and the argument that this is what the public wants, speaks poorly of our area as well as the editors' view of its readership. Let the advertisers who support Style sell to the folks who enjoy bottom-feeding gossip journalism, especially if any public interest, in the eyes of the editor, is justification for its inclusion.
Well, Constant Reader, you assume that all the loyal customers don't like the dish. Some do, some don't. That's why we have a variety on the menu. I do appreciate your comments. Tinsley Mortimer is of interest to many people. We've written about her life through the years, as have other local media.
Monday, August 10, 2009 2:38:30 PM by Constant Reader
Oh my, Mr. Roop. I think what we have here is a "failure to communicate." Imagine if you were running a restaurant and one night offered a dish to your loyal customers that not only smelled bad, but caused them to complain repeatedly about the bad taste it left in their mouths. Would you continue to offer it on the menu because you received so many "comments" from your customers about it? Or would you elect to discontinue serving it ?
Monday, August 10, 2009 2:13:37 PM by dewey42
Likewise, VDOT will be scaling back on budgeting for repairs to make our roadways safer. The reasoning is that if people slow down to look at an accident, they must really enjoy accidents. We're all praying that this article was just an accident.... and one that will be avoided in the future, not embraced. It seems that the "popularity" of this one online has been due to the fact that the readers wished to voice their disappointment as quickly as possible. Might want to keep an ear open.
mihuel: Thank you for your feedback. As you can imagine we have a huge variety of readers -- ages, jobs, lifestyles, viewpoints, etc. While this story may not be your thing, it's only one story in a very thick issue. And it's one of the most popular online stories, according to our stats. That said, we don't base our editorial decisions on those kinds of things, but I just wanted to point out that some people enjoy keeping up with Tinsley. Keep reading!
Monday, August 10, 2009 11:35:42 AM by mihuel
I used to look forward to reading Style. Thoughtful articles, different perspectives. I hope the editors pay attention to these comments and realize their readers dont want this thoughtless, tabloid pablum
Friday, August 07, 2009 7:57:37 AM by suzanne
"i and many others like reading about this type of thing. " I am sure there are those who enjoy this sort of thing (it's still not "news"). But the majority of those people do their heavy reading while standing in a checkout line at the grocery store.
Friday, August 07, 2009 5:43:51 AM by Constant Reader
This article is an example of "bread and circuses." Instead of leading with the article about how notorious lawbreaker, disbarred attorney and now House Delegate Joe Morrissey continues to break the law and let his dogs run wild, we are told by the placement of this story by certain Style editors that THIS is more important.
Lesson: Don't talk down to your readers, Style. Look at what is happening to the RT-D .... readers are much smarter than the journalistic talking heads are inclined to give us credit for being. Much smarter. Now, we need Style editors to wise up and leave the foo-foo-fluff for other publications. News space is too precious to waste on stuff like this.
Thursday, August 06, 2009 9:52:28 PM by HanoverMonkeyGirl
i personally really liked reading this article - a girl from Richmond makes the news, and i and many others like reading about this type of thing. Besides, you all apparently read it too, even given the title,... you must not have hated the topic that bad. Give Ms. Culpepper a break, and lighten up.
Thursday, August 06, 2009 9:18:08 PM by Disappointed in Style
Muckraking?! Naw ......... just nasty, self-absorbed narcissism made manifest. With all her money, you would think she could buy a cute sweater. Ug-ly.
Thursday, August 06, 2009 4:13:06 PM by newsnotgossip
Muckraking nastiness. And as it has already been said, not "news" that Style should be covering.
Thursday, August 06, 2009 3:33:55 PM by Anonymous
Have you ever been through a breakup? it hurts. Let these people live their lives in privacy. This isn't a news item.
Thursday, August 06, 2009 2:16:36 PM by Anonymous
Never heard of her. Still don't care. I looked at the cover to see if this was April's Fools Day. How Pathetic that Style thinks this is newsworthy.
Thursday, August 06, 2009 1:25:13 PM by Just Sayin
I didn't mind the story one bit...mainly cuz I hit that a bunch of years back when she was in town and drunk as hizzle
Wednesday, August 05, 2009 9:54:15 PM by Fourth Estate Fan
Fan Guy, Au contraire ....Why don't you take Jason Roop up on his offer to run a BackPage enumerating your laments about the media, "Old Richmond," baseball stadiums gone bust, et cetera et cetera ad nauseum ......provided, of course, that you use your real name.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009 5:36:42 PM by dewey42
It seems like nothing could make this any worse than it is for a news story, but the gleeful delivery and gossip-columnist cliches have managed just that. It is "journalism" wallowing in other people's dramas, and a drama that is tenuous at best in its connection and importance to our city. Editors, if this one came out of the intern pool, throw it back. As the old saying goes "You can't polish a turd".... but you should at least wipe the flies off before sending it to press. Suzanne is correct in her assertion: Style is capable of much better than this, in content and in writing.
4th, put a coherent sentence together and then get back to me.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009 4:39:34 PM by Fourth Estate Fan
FanGuy, There YOU go again attempting revisionist history. Your idea of holding the media accountable is akin to Sarah Palin's blame them for all your problems. Yawn.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009 4:07:06 PM by William
"Certain social circles are atwitter"? Not this social circle. Garbage like this is bad enough without the obnoxious, muck-raking "Gossip Girl"-inspired writing. A note to Ms. Culpepper: As a journalist, try watching CNN, not CW.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009 3:50:26 PM by suzanne
Good lord. With all the solid writing and strong content that Style has to offer, it was depressing to open up the new issue and see this pap starting things off. Style, you're better than this. Let InTouch run garbage like this. Save your budget and efforts for the much better journalism we have come to value each week.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009 2:35:16 PM by Anonymous
This is news? What is next, what Paris Hilton is wearing? BORING.
The family, 4th. Not just Tinsley. The dingbat trust fund crowd who don't want to do anything that might disturb the power structure in this town.
And taking the media to task does not blaming them for everything. Good job oversimplifying things.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009 11:48:45 AM by anonymous
TINS? WTF? STFU .... This is totally stupid. Snooze News.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009 9:45:46 AM by Fourth Estate Fan
FanGuy We almost agree .... granted, she's a spoiled brat who left and gives nothing back .... how in the world is she then an example of what holds Richmond back? I have read that you blame the media and everyone in Richmond who disagrees with you, but now you are blaming air-headed socialites who have abandoned Richmond for holding our city back?! What illogical desperation!
Let me be the first to say "who cares"? A trust fund "socialite" born into privilege who is average in every other way leaves Richmond and gives nothing back. So freakin what.
