Coco Chanel and the Aryan Laws (Pt 2)

Summary

The Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told

Episode: "Coco Chanel and the Aryan Laws (Pt 2)"

Release Date: May 13, 2025
Host: Mary Kay McBrayer

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Introduction

In the second part of the gripping series on Coco Chanel's enigmatic life, host Mary Kay McBrayer delves deeper into the controversial intersections between the renowned fashion designer and Nazi collaboration during World War II. This episode not only illuminates the dark chapters of Chanel's past but also challenges listeners to ponder the ethical complexities surrounding consumer choices in the modern era.

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Aftermath of World War II in France

Mary Kay sets the stage by describing the tumultuous period following the D-Day landings in June 1944. As Allied forces liberated France, a violent purge ensued, targeting those suspected of collaboration with the Nazis.

• Vigilante Justice:
  "Records show that about 6,000 people were killed during the vigilante justice at the Wild Purge," McBrayer states (03:45).

• Focus on Women Collaborators:
  The majority of these victims were women labeled as "horizontal collaborators"—accused of maintaining sexual relationships with enemy soldiers, whether consensually, through coercion, or under dire economic pressures.

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Coco Chanel's Collaboration with Nazis

Transitioning to Chanel's personal narrative, McBrayer uncovers the layers of Chanel's involvement with Nazi officials.

• Strategic Alliances:
  "Coco wrote the Nazis to say she was an Aryan and as a part owner, she should be able to recover the company herself," McBrayer explains (09:20). This maneuver was part of Chanel's attempt to manipulate Aryanization laws to her advantage.

• Personal Entanglements:
  Chanel maintained a prolonged romantic affair with Hans Gunther von Dinkelage, a Nazi spy, spanning over a decade. This relationship not only solidified her ties with the Nazi intelligence community but also provided her with influential connections.

• Espionage Activities:
  She undertook missions for the Nazis, including efforts to free her nephew from a German POW camp and negotiating with Winston Churchill through Nazi intelligence channels—a double-edged sword that intertwined her personal and business interests with the regime.

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Business Negotiations and Impact on Chanel

The episode meticulously outlines the complex business dealings between Chanel and her Jewish business partners, the Wertimer brothers.

• Aryanization of Chanel:
  Under Nazi-imposed Aryan laws, Jewish-owned businesses were confiscated. Chanel sought to bypass these laws by asserting her Aryan status to reclaim her stake in the Chanel company.

• The Wertimer Betrayal:
  Despite negotiations, the Wertimers, anticipating Chanel's betrayal, had secretly transferred their shares to Felix Amiot, a French engineer involved in manufacturing for the Luftwaffe. This clever move safeguarded the company from Nazi seizure and preserved the Wertimers' legacy (12:15).

• Legal Settlements Post-War:
  After the war, Pierre Wertimer negotiated a settlement with Chanel, resulting in her receiving a substantial cash payout and a percentage of sales, thereby severing her direct ties to the company's ownership.

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Post-War Consequences and Chanel's Legacy

Chanel's attempt to revive her fashion empire in 1954 met with public failure, leading to further financial entanglements with the Wertimers. Despite her controversial past, Chanel's brand endured, evolving under the stewardship of the Wertimer family and eventually flourishing into a billion-dollar empire.

• Failed Comeback:
  "Her show had flopped," McBrayer notes, highlighting the challenges Chanel faced in re-establishing her brand post-war (20:05).

• Family Succession:
  The Wertimer family's strategic decisions, including the appointment of influential executives and the hiring of Karl Lagerfeld, ensured the continuation and expansion of the Chanel brand, effectively overshadowing Chanel's personal controversies.

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Ethical Reflections

McBrayer poses a poignant question to listeners: Is it ethical to continue supporting a brand with such a tainted history? She draws parallels to other public figures whose legacies are marred by personal misconduct, suggesting a nuanced approach to consumer choices.

• Consumer Dilemma:
  "The ethics of our consumer purchases is something to consider," McBrayer reflects, acknowledging the discomfort consumers may feel when beloved products are linked to immoral actions (28:45).

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Conclusion

The episode concludes by tracing Chanel's ultimate downfall and the lasting impact of her actions during the war. Despite her personal failures and moral compromises, the Chanel brand remains a powerhouse in the fashion world, raising enduring questions about legacy, accountability, and the complexities of separating art from the artist.

• Legacy vs. Infamy:
  "The tweed skirt suit is still ubiquitous because it's professional and practical," McBrayer observes, illustrating how Chanel's creations continue to define fashion trends despite the shadow of her past (32:10).

• Final Reflection:
  "If you're wondering about the morality of purchasing Chanel products... you can rest easy," she concludes, suggesting that informed consumer decisions can reconcile admiration for the brand with awareness of its historical context (33:25).

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Notable Quotes

• On Being the Son of a Killer:
  "Every time I hear about my dad is, oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil." - Gilbert King (16:55)

• On Ethical Consumerism:
  "The ethics of our consumer purchases is something to consider." - Mary Kay McBrayer (28:45)

• On Legacy:
  "The tweed skirt suit is still ubiquitous because it's professional and practical." - Mary Kay McBrayer (32:10)

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Sources and Credits

Mary Kay McBrayer credits documentaries "The Wars of Coco Chanel" and "Becoming Chanel," Hal Vaughn's book "Sleeping with the Enemy," and various articles from reputable outlets such as The New York Times, PBS, BBC, The New Yorker, Forbes, and Business Insider for her comprehensive research.

Produced by: Emma DeMuth
Edited by: Antonio Enriquez
Theme Music: Tyler Cash
Executive Producer: Scott Waxman

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Disclaimer: This summary is based on the transcript provided and is intended to offer a comprehensive overview of the podcast episode. For a deeper understanding and full context, listening to the original episode is recommended.

Transcript

[Mary Kay McBrayer]

You're listening to an iHeart podcast.

Hi listeners, I'm Mary Kay McBrayer, host of the Greatest True Crime Stories Ever.

Told Season two podcast, and I'm excited to share these riveting stories with you. I'm also excited to tell you that you can now get access to all episodes of the Greatest True Crime Stories ever told, season one and season two 100% ad free and access all episodes.

Of the Greatest True Crime Stories Ever.

Told Season 2 one week early through the iHeart True Crime plus subscription available exclusively on Apple Podcasts Plus. You'll get access to other chart topping true crime shows you love like There and Gone, South Street, Paper Ghosts, Piketon Massacre, Murder Homes, Unrestorable, the Godmother, Betrayal, and more. So don't wait. Head to Apple Podcasts, search for I Heart True Crime plus and subscribe Today.

[Unknown]

Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in Bone Valley Season one.

[Gilbert King]

Every time I hear about my dad is, oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil.

[Unknown]

I was becoming the bridge between Jeremy Scott and the son he'd never known.

[Gilbert King]

At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.

[Unknown]

Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Holly Fry]

Explore the winding halls of historical true crime with Holly Fry and Maria Tremarchi, hosts of Criminalia, as they uncover curious cases from the past. The legend of the Highwayman suggests men dominated the field, but tell that to Lady Catherine Ferrars, known as the Wicked lady who terrorized England in the mid-1600s. Her legend persists nearly 400 years after her death. Highwaymen are in the hot seat this season. Find more crime and cocktails on Criminalia. Listen to criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Hi listeners, I'm Melissa Jeltson, host of what Happened to Talina Czar? It's the story of a woman who disappears in the early days of COVID lockdowns and the group of online sleuths who try to find her.

[Unknown]

I didn't want to be talked out of this plan. After I post this, I am turning off my phone for exactly this reason.

[Mary Kay McBrayer]

I kept just kind of asking everybody, anyone else think this is strange?

[Unknown]

You'll notice that about me. I don't lurk. I'm out there. I'm an action kind of girl.

[Melissa Jeltson]

You can now get access to episodes of what Happened to Talina Zhar 100% ad free with an iHeart True Crime plus subscription. I'm a subscriber and you should be too. So don't wait. Head to Apple Podcasts, search I Heart True Crime plus and subscribe today. Diversion Audio.

[Mary Kay McBrayer]

The D day landings of June 6, 1944, are standard curricula for American public schools. We all learned about the Allied victory there. What we didn't learn about was the wild purge that happened the weeks and months after the liberation of France. Allied troops swept through towns to liberate French citizens, and a group of vigilantes swept through right behind them to punish those who had collaborated with the Nazis. Some of that mob were loyal Resistance members. Some of them had collaborated themselves and were anxious to clear their own names before official punishment happened. One group of the most brutally punished by these vigilantes were the horizontal collaborators. These were women accused of sleeping with the enemy. Of course, some women had slept with Nazi officers. Some of them were sex workers. Some of them were raped. Some of them had nothing but the briefest encounters with German soldiers, but were accused of collaboration out of personal vendetta. Most of the women accused of horizontal collaboration were single, unmarried, widowed or alone because their husbands were in prisoner of war camps. But all of those accused were women, and all of those who inflicted the punishment were men. Their punishment started with public humiliation. The vigilantes shaved their heads, stripped them half naked, smeared them with tar, and marched them through the streets. Onlookers taunted them and spat on them, and sometimes they were even killed. Records show that about 6,000 people were killed during the vigilante justice at the Wild Purge. And those weren't the serious collaborators, those who committed serious crimes. They were mostly women who were accused of consorting with the enemy. Welcome to the greatest true crime stories ever told. I'm Mary Kay McBrayer. Today's episode we're calling Coco Chanel and the Aryan Laws. It's the story of the famous French fashion designer. But maybe not as you've heard it before. You're probably at least somewhat aware of how Coco's designs influence women's fashions in the 1920s through the present. And if you're not, I'll fill you in on that history, too. But you may not be as familiar with the more shocking parts of her life, the parts that deal with Nazi collaboration, the parts to do with invoking the Aryan laws against her Jewish business partners. This is part two of the story, so if you haven't heard part one yet, pause me go listen to that first and then meet me back here. If you're already caught up, then you know it's about to go down. I'll refresh your memory on what happened in the first part of this story, and then I'll tell you everything else that followed right after the break. In our first episode about Coco Chanel and the Aryan laws, we talked a lot about the offenses she committed. This time we're going to talk about how officials treated and or punished those offenses. But I also want to take a minute and address what might be on a lot of listeners minds as it pertains to the way we live our individual lives here and now. In the midst of Cancel Culture, a lot of listeners might be wondering, is it okay to buy or wear Chanel? Obviously, the decision is yours. I won't tell you what to do one way or the other, but the ethics of our consumer purchases is something to consider. Right? I know. I personally hate it when the media reveals someone whose products I enjoy was a terrible person. For example, how impossible is it to enjoy the Cosby show reruns nowadays, even though there were a ton of other people who worked on the series and nothing exists in a vacuum and it doesn't necessarily make you a bad person by proxy. You just can't enjoy stuff in the same way. Not that Coco Chanel is Bill Cosby, but that was the first example I thought of in which someone that used to give me great joy and a feel good energy got smashed to Smitherings. Anyway, we know that Cancel Culture as a whole doesn't work, but thoughtful people like us like to make informed decisions. For that reason, I'm going to extend the story a little bit farther than we normally do on the show. So yes, we're going to talk about Coco's offenses and how and if she was punished. As you likely have deduced, Coco Chanel is no longer with us, but the Chanel company is very much still alive. So once we've talked about Coco herself, I'm continuing the narrative to address sort of where the chips fell regarding the Chanel company itself. Don't worry, it's a suspenseful story, full of intrigue, and you'll be glad we took it all the way to the end. Okay. When we last left Coco Chanel, she had collaborated with Nazi spies on two missions. One of them, we're pretty sure she did to free her nephew and adopted son Andre from a German prisoner of war camp. She had just found out that he had tuberculosis and his wife and two daughters were freaking out without him. So not that it's ever okay to collude with Nazis. But the first hit is at least somewhat understandable. And then she executed another mission, this time meeting with Hitler's counterintelligence chief, Walter Schellenberg, to try to convey a peace agreement to Koko's buddy Winston Churchill. Even this we might be able to equivocate, for if she was under duress. What we can't rationalize on Coco's behalf is that she lived in the Nazi headquarters. They had commandeered the Ritz Hotel in Paris, and only very special non Germans were even allowed to visit, let alone live there. Sure, she had lived there since 1930, but now no one but Nazis and their collaborators was at the Ritz. Another untenable fact we had covered on the last episode. Coco had a romantic affair with a man whom she knew was a Nazi spy. And not just once. Not just a woke up the morning after and realized the bedspread was a swastika quilt before she kicked rocks on the ultimate walk of shame. No, Koko had an affair with Hans Gunther von Dinkelage for over a decade. She also tried to invoke the Aryan laws on her business partners, Pierre and Paul Wertimer. Under the new laws, Jewish people were not allowed to hold businesses, and they were forfeited to the Vichy administration. Coco wrote the Nazis to say she was an Aryan and as a part owner, she should be able to recover the company herself. This one's pretty incorrigible. I mean, sure, you might want to save your company, but at what point is an alliance with the Nazis worth the blast to your integrity? To make matters more clear, when the Vichy administration told her that actually the Wertimers had already sold their shares to another Aryan owner, Koko did not back off. She doubled down. She said it was a lie. And she pushed even harder to try to get the Nazis to commandeer the company on her behalf. There's no excusing that. There's no rationalizing with. Well, maybe she was going to give it back to them in the end. She wasn't. She had already tried to sue them over a contract, the terms of which she had suggested, saying they committed a breach that they did not commit. And she failed. The fact is, the Wertimers expected this betrayal, and they were ready for it. Just before Pierre and Paul fled the Nazi occupation in 1941, they met with an old friend. That friend was French engineer Felix Amiot. And the brothers sold Felix their shares of the company because they knew this was going to happen. Felix was an engineer who manufactured weapons for the Luftwaffe, so he was pretty untouchable. But Felix also helped Pierre's son Jacques escape the German prisoner of war camps. When all the Wertimers finally made it to New York City by way of both Spain and Brazil, they sent an emissary from New York back to Paris. He had retrieved the formula of the Chanel perfume so that they could start manufacturing no. 5 on American soil. That was not a violation of their contract, by the way. From what I can deduce, the reason why they had to sneak back the formula at all is because they had to literally flee the country, and they probably didn't have time to procure the recipe on the way. And now, you know, Paris was swarming with Nazis at the time. They probably wouldn't have taken kindly to anyone trying to help the Jews. How Gregory got the recipe back remains a secret. He never shared the exact method. Not even after the wertimers appointed that emissary as the president of Chanel, and not even after he worked at the company for 37 years after the war. And now that the war had ended, the Wertimers came back to Paris and demanded their company back. It took several lawsuits, but they got it back from Felix, and they also got him off the execution block. He might have been a collaborator, but he saved their company for them. And he certainly saved the life of Pierre's son, Jacques. Ultimately, these good turns he did, the Werdimers saved Felix's life. When the French government came back to smoke out collaborators, and that is exactly what they did, the French Resistance's first order of business was to round up all the French citizens who had collaborated with the Nazis and prosecute them to the fullest degree. One of the most vivid images for me personally is the arrest of all the, quote, horizontal collaborators, I.e. french women who consorted with the Nazis sexually. Some of these women had to resort to sex work just to keep from starving. But they were shown no mercy. The French forces of the interior, a largely vigilante group, dragged these women, partly or fully nude, from their homes, shaved their heads in the street, and marked them with a swastika. Coco Chanel, who was actually a horizontal collaborator, didn't undergo any treatment like this. Coco's first order of business was dispensing free bottles of Chanel no. 5 to American GIs so they could give them to their girlfriends back home. You might be wondering, was that a PR stunt, a survival move, or a genuine celebration? Why pick just one? I think it could have been some of all of those motivations. But of course that's just my opinion, and I'm not sure it made much difference. Regardless, two weeks after the liberation, Coco was arrested for collaboration Hi listeners, I'm Mary Kay McBrayer, host of the Greatest.

True Crime Stories Ever Told Season two podcast and I'm excited to share these riveting stories with you.

I'm also excited to tell you that.

That you can now get access to all episodes of the Greatest True Crime Stories ever told season one and season two 100% ad free and access all.

Episodes of the Greatest True Crime Stories.

Ever Told Season 2 one week early through the iHeart True Crime plus subscription available exclusively on Apple Podcasts Plus. You'll get access to other chart topping true crime shows you love like There and Gone, South Street Paper Ghosts, Piketon Massacre, Murder, Unrestorable, the Godmother, Betrayal and more. So don't wait. Head to Apple Podcasts, search for I Heart True Crime plus and subscribe Today.

[Unknown]

Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in Bone Valley Season one.

[Mary Kay McBrayer]

I just knew him as a kid.

[Unknown]

Long silent voices from his past came.

[Mary Kay McBrayer]

Forward and he was just staring at me.

[Unknown]

And they had secrets of their own to share.

[Gilbert King]

Gilbert King I'm the son of Jeremy Lynn Scott.

[Unknown]

I was no longer just telling the story, I was part of it.

[Gilbert King]

Every time I hear about my dad is, oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil.

[Unknown]

I was becoming the bridge between a killer and the son he'd never known.

[Gilbert King]

If the cops and everything would have done the job properly, I my dad would have been a joke. I would have never existed.

[Unknown]

I never expected to find myself in this place. Now I need to tell you how I got here.

[Gilbert King]

At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.

[Unknown]

Bone Valley Season 2 Jeremy, Jeremy, I.

[Mary Kay McBrayer]

Want to tell you something.

[Unknown]

Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast and to hear the entire new season ad free with exclusive content. Subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Hi listeners, I'm Melissa Jeltson, host of what Happened to Talina Czar? It's the story of a woman who disappears in the early days of COVID lockdowns and the group of online sleuths who try to find her.

[Unknown]

I didn't want to be talked out of this plan. After I post this, I am turning off my phone for exactly this reason.

[Mary Kay McBrayer]

I kept just kind of asking everybody. Anyone else think this is strange.

[Unknown]

You'Ll notice that about me. I don't lurk. I'm out there. I'm an action kind of girl.

[Melissa Jeltson]

You can now get access to episodes of what Happened to Talina Zar? 100% ad free with an iHeart True Crime plus subscription. I'm a subscriber and you should be too. So don't wait. Head to Apple Podcasts. Search I heart True Crime plus and subscribe. Today.

[Anna Sinfield]

The number one hit true crime podcast, the Girlfriends, is back with something new. The Girlfriend Spotlight. Our first two series introduce you to an incredible gang of women who teamed up to fight injustice, showing just how powerful sisterly solidarity can be. And we're keeping this mission alive with the Girlfriend Spotlight. Each week, a different woman sits down with me, Anna Sinfield, to share their incredible story of triumph over adversity. Like Tracy, who survived a terrifying attack.

[Mary Kay McBrayer]

I remember that feeling of okay, this is how I die.

[Anna Sinfield]

And turned that darkness into the most incredible journey.

[Melissa Jeltson]

I want to take over the world and just leave this place better than I found it.

[Anna Sinfield]

Which took her all the way to Paris for the Paralympic Games.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Oh, my gosh, this is amazing.

[Anna Sinfield]

So come and join our girl gang. Listen to the Girlfriend Spotlight on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Mary Kay McBrayer]

After the liberation of Paris, one French writer calculated that there were between 30 and and 40,000 collaborators executed. First of all, that's a huge number. And secondly, that is a huge range. From what I've read, the reason why the number of possible executions span a difference of 10,000 lives is because it was drumhead justice. Not everyone got a trial, not at first. Collaborators risked being shot in the street on sight. General Charles de Gaulle ended that hunt by establishing special courts to deal with collaborators. And he labeled them with the crime, national unworthiness. I feel like I have to reiterate here. At the time when people collaborated with the Nazis during the war, that wasn't illegal. It wasn't technically a crime. I mean, it was exactly wrong and evil, but it wasn't illegal. So when we talk about collaborators as criminals, it's just something to keep in mind. Even though Paris had been occupied by Nazis for years, the French Resistance still existed. And now that the city had been liberated from the Germans, those Resistance fighters, most of whom used their own weapons and wore civilian clothing, had collected into a unit called the French Forces of the Interior. Kovo had been on the FFI's blacklist for years. She called them the Fifis. A handful of these young resistance fighters came to arraign her at the Ritz in September of 1944. By all accounts, she was more insulted by the bad manners and rude dress of the FFI than her actual arrest. I just have to say, of course, they weren't polite. Arresting officers don't do that. They might be decent, but they're not. Considering your feelings, lady, that's not the priority. They were there to arrest her, and they themselves had been hunted down by Nazis for years. Granted, I wasn't there for the arrest, and I don't know how rude they were. Coco was interrogated for a few hours, but the FFIs had no record of her secret work. They didn't know about her collaboration on the mission to Madrid, and they didn't know about her involvement in the Model Hat mission earlier this same year. And so, just like that, she was released. Back to her second apartment she went. Coco told her niece Gabrielle that her friend Winston Churchill had her freed. That point has never been proven, although one theory claims that Chanel knew Winston had violated his own Trading with the Enemy Act. The act criminalized conducting business with the enemy during wartime, and the rumor was that Winston paid the Germans to protect the Duke of Windsor's properties in Paris. To support that theory, the Duke's property never was touched, not even after he was exiled and became a governor of the Bahamas. Another theory, and in my opinion, an equally likely one, is that they hadn't yet compiled a full case against Koko. So many of these documents were swirled away or destroyed or classified until the 2010s that she passed the first battery of questions simply on lack of evidence. But speaking of Edward, Duke of Windsor, when Coco made it back to her apartment from that initial investigation, she got a message from her longtime friend. He said, don't lose a minute. Get out of France. So she left. Her chauffeur took her and her Cadillac limousine to Switzerland. This in itself implies some level of guilt to me, but again, I wasn't there, and I don't know how bad it was. The wild purge was still happening, and I'm sure that was a terrifying crossfire to find oneself in, regardless of actual guilt. But people in Paris did know about her past, Even if they didn't have the documents in hand to prove it. They wondered if her luck could hold out. Two years later, in May of 1946, officials opened a case against her. In the decades since, that dossier has disappeared from the French Justice Department's National Archives. The index card labeled with her name and penal code, though, signifies that the investigation dealt with espionage. Coco was summoned many times before she finally appeared before Judge Fernand Paul Leclerc. Now they had the records. Louis de Vofferlund had testified Louis was the guy who had helped Coco free her nephew Andre from that prisoner of war camp. And Louis had testified that Coco was collaborating through intelligence. But by this time, Coco had been carefully coached by her lawyers. She denied that the trip to Madrid had to do with anything other than opening new boutiques. She claimed that she never asked Louis for help to free Andre. The judge brought up that she was on record registered as a Nazi intelligence agent. Coco said she was never aware of that registration. The judge did not ask about Operation Model Hut, which was her trip to speak with the Nazi chief of intelligence, Walter Schellenberg. And he did not ask about her wartime relationship with the SS officer Baron Hans Gunther von Dinklage either. Biographers state that it is possible U.S. intelligence sources may have never shared the facts of Koko's involvement with Model Hut. Plus, the details of her collaboration were hidden in French, German, Italian, Soviet and US archives. German authorities even purged French intelligence files as they were fleeing Paris. And they shipped them first to Berlin and then to Moscow. And that's where they stayed until 1985, four decades later. The judge did ask about her attempt to, quote, get in touch with the Nazi authorities in charge of the aryanization of property or businesses owned by Jews. In particular, about the Wertimer ownership of 90% of the Chanel perfume business. Coco dodged the question. She said the Chanel establishments were never sequestrated. There was a temporary administrator for around three weeks and the business Aryanized thanks to a scheme of the Wertimer brothers with one of their friends. It is possible that Vofer Lund overheard a conversation on this subject, but I didn't ask anything of him. The questioning about that part of her collaboration ended there. Apparently, the judge did not know about the trust that the Wertimer set up with Felix amyo. From 1945 on, Coco had been buying the silence of people who knew about her collaboration. What surprises me, though, is that Pierre and Paul Wertimer didn't say a word. Pierre had even discovered that Chanel was manufacturing her perfume in Switzerland. It was a clear breach of their 1924 agreement which entitled them to sole rights of production and manufacturing. And they didn't push on that either. The fact that they said nothing is wild to me. I love having the last word. And to be frank, that is why I will never really be rich. I would rather be right. But being right is Not a long term win. And the Wertimers, as I continue to reiterate, were in it for the long haul. In 1947, Pierre and his lawyer met with Coco and hers in his offices in Paris. In a move that I can't really fathom without knowing the future, Pierre offered Coco $50,000 and a small additional percentage of sales. It was a negotiation, so Coco asked for more. By the end of the talk, they agreed on $350,000 cash for Coco and 2% of all sales. Not 2% of profits, 2% of sales. Coco left happy. She told a friend, now I'm rich. Coco felt like she had won. And honestly, looking at it from my point of view, if the story ended here, then I would have to agree. But Pierre knew what he was doing. To recap again, because if you're like me, his decision just doesn't track. Without more reflection, Pierre could have sued the shit out of Coco when she was on trial for trying to Aryanize the company. If he had done that, yes, all of her collaboration would have come out, and she would have likely been punished for her crimes. But the secret arrangement between the Wertimers and Felix Amyo might have come out as well. From what I can tell, it wasn't illegal, but it was just kind of icky. It might have also exposed their emissary, H. Gregory Thomas, for his part in the plot as well. And they ended up making Gregory the company's president for 37 years. So that wouldn't do. And even if all of that had been above board or at least grandfathered in, now that the Nazis were out, that negative press that would come with a court case would have damaged the company name. And the name Chanel was the whole point of the deal. The Wertimers were already established as perfume makers long before that first meeting with Coco at the horse track. But Chanel no. 5 was their real money maker. So to simplify, Pierre Wertimer peered into the future with the foresight of a true business person. And he chose generational wealth over being right in the moment. Even with the outcomes in clear, bold face like that, I'm still not sure I could make the smarter decision like he did. What truly incredible resolve. A lot of time passed between this new deal between Coco and the Wertimers and the next bullet point of our story. So we're skipping forward eight years. It's 1954. Coco Chanel wanted a comeback. So she came back to Paris and she debuted her first fashion line since before the war. Listeners, it did not go Well, a French reporter from a major daily magazine wrote, quote, everyone had come to the show hoping to find again the atmosphere of the collections that had bowled over Paris in the the years gone by. But there is nothing of that left, only mannequins who paraded before an audience that cannot bring itself to applaud. Yikes. By now, Coco's creations might have been very successful, but her business was in bad shape financially. This new collection to supply her comeback had cost 35 million francs, which is over 1 million and $100,000 today. And her show had flopped. So Pierre stepped in to help again. Coco sold the Wertimers her shares of the fashion company. She sold them her commercial real estate and all her holdings with the Chanel name. In exchange, the Wertimers paid all her expenses. That included her apartment at the Ritz, her domestic help, and all other costs of living. In exchange, she had to assist with the development of new perfumes and run her couture house again. Coco felt like she had won. But listeners, you know that's not where our story ends. I'll tell you all about the poetic justice of Coco Chanel and the Aryan laws right after this break. Foreigners I'm Mary Kay McBrayer, host of the Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told.

Season 2 podcast and I'm excited to share these riveting stories with you. I'm also excited to tell you that you can now get access to all episodes of the Greatest True Crime Stories ever told, season one and season two 100% ad free and access all episodes.

Of the Greatest True Crime Stories Ever.

Told Season two of one week early through the I Heart True Crime plus subscription available exclusively on Apple Podcasts plus, you'll get access to other chart topping true crime shows you love, like There and Gone, South Street Paper, Ghosts, Piketon Massacre, Murder Homes, Unrestorable, the Godmother, Betrayal, and more. So don't wait. Head to Apple Podcasts, search for I Heart True Crime plus and subscribe Today.

[Unknown]

Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in Bone Valley Season one.

[Mary Kay McBrayer]

I just knew him as a kid.

[Unknown]

Long silent voices from his past came.

[Mary Kay McBrayer]

Forward and he was just staring at me.

[Unknown]

And they had secrets of their own to share.

[Gilbert King]

Gilbert King I'm the son of Jeremy.

[Unknown]

I was no longer just telling the story, I was part of it.

[Gilbert King]

Every time I hear about my dad is, oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil.

[Unknown]

I was becoming the bridge between a killer and the son he'd never known.

[Gilbert King]

If the cops and everything would have done the job properly. My dad would have been in jail. I would have never existed.

[Unknown]

I never expected to find myself in this place. Now I need to tell you how I got here.

[Gilbert King]

At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.

[Unknown]

Bone Valley Season 2 Jeremy Jeremy, I want to tell you something. Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and to hear the entire new season ad free with exclusive content. Subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Hi listeners, I'm Melissa Jeltson, host of what Happened to Talina Zar? It's the story of a woman who disappears in the early days of COVID lockdowns and the group of online sleuths who try to find her.

[Unknown]

I didn't want to be talked out of this plan. After I post this, I am turning off my phone for exactly this reason.

[Mary Kay McBrayer]

I kept just kind of asking everybody. Anyone else think this is strange?

[Unknown]

You'll notice that about me. I don't lurk. I'm out there. I'm an action kind of girl.

[Melissa Jeltson]

You can now get access to episodes of what Happened to Talina Zar? 100% ad free with an iHeart True Crime plus subscription. I'm a subscriber and you should be too, so don't wait. Head to Apple Podcasts. Search Search I Heart True Crime plus and subscribe today.

[Holly Fry]

Explore the winding halls of historical true crime with Holly Fry and Maria Tremarchi, hosts of Criminalia, as they uncover curious cases from the past. The legend of the Highwayman suggests men dominated the field, but Ted that to Lady Catherine Ferrars, known as the Wicked lady who terrorized England in the mid-1600s, her legend persists nearly 400 years after her death. Hear the story of the Gentleman Robber, the romantic darling of the ladies, and a tale about a wager over a sack of potatoes. But you'll have to tune in to learn who won that one. Some highwaymen were well mannered or faked it. People were concerned about the romanticism of robbers, but most were just thugs. Highwaymen are in the hot seat this season. Call them robbers or bandits. Some are legendary figures. Listen to stories about historical crimes on Criminalia now, plus the cocktails and mocktails inspired by each. Listen to criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Mary Kay McBrayer]

We left Chanel in 1956, just after her return to Paris. Couture had flopped. Pierre Wertimer stepped in and he bought her out. Coco still designed and Pierre paid all her bills. And they were both happy with this arrangement. They were especially happy when Coco released the tweed skirt suit. You know, the one that she's still famous for, the one that could be seen on everyone whose fashion sense mattered. I mean, Elizabeth Taylor, Jane Fonda, Romy Schneider, and of course, First Lady Jackie Kennedy. True crime people. You know whose pink tweed suit Jackie O was wearing during President Kennedy's assassination? You sure do. That tweed skirt suit is, is still ubiquitous because it's professional and practical. For decades, famous women wore the Chanel suit. Here are some more name drops. Claudia Schiffer, Barbara Walters, Princess Diana. And while they were wearing the Chanel suit, the world forgot about the scandal of Coco Chanel's Nazi collaboration. Or rather, they never knew about it. In 1965, Pierre Wertimer died. He left his son Jacques, the same one who had escaped France during the war, in charge of the Chanel company and other business ventures. Coco died just six years later, in 1971, in her bed at the Ritz. Again, I want to reiterate. The Chanel company was now completely owned by the Wertimer family. They had bought out the finders 20%. And on her death, with no heirs, Chanel's shares went to Pierre, or in this case, his heir. Now the company's management fell to Jacques because he focused his attention on other ventures. Though Chanel languished, but only for a little while. Just three years later, when they were 25 and 23, Jacques's son Alain and Gerard convinced the members of the board to allow them to run Chanel. Alain saw the problem. He reined in distribution to create scarcity of the long beloved perfume. No more shelf space in drugstores. Their scents and new cosmetics lines would only sell in high end stores. Alon also insisted on a mass produced ready to Wear line. And then he hired an incredible ad executive to run their business in America. It was she, that ad exec, who hired Karl Lagerfeld to revitalize the fashion house in 1983, which he did. To this day, Alen and Gerard Wertimer run the Chanel company. They're quiet people. They don't sit front row at Chanel fashion shows. They seldom talk to the news media, and when they get around Paris, they typically drive a French hatchback. They live like old money aristocracy, keeping to themselves. And they're widely known as fashion's quietest billionaires. I know it's gauche to talk about other people's money, but I have to share this beautiful retribution figure with you. In 2018, for the first time in Chanel's history, the company revealed their sales numbers. Are you ready? I can't even get my head around this figure. $9.62 billion in sales. @ the top of the show, I mentioned that we'd talk about the ethics of buying Chanel products. I hope these concluding facts help clear up any doubts for you. I for one would not feel at all guilty for wearing Chanel creations. In fact, if and when I received compliments, I would probably recount this whole story and in as much detail as I could remember. And as that well intentioned stranger edged away, I tried to airdrop them the link to this episode so if you're wondering about the morality of purchasing Chanel products, or if you're wondering whether your grandmama was a secret Nazi because she wore number five, I think you can rest EAS Join me next week on the Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told. For our three part episode on Susie Newsom Lynch, a woman who came from a family of wealthy Southern aristocracy and who became a family annihilator, I'd like to shout out a few key sources that made it possible for me to tell this week's two part story about Coco Chanel and the Aryan Laws. First, the two documentaries the wars of Coco Chanel and Becoming Chanel. And then there's Hal Vaughn's book Sleeping with the Enemy. And on top of those, there are a ton of articles I referenced in the New York Times, pbs, BBC, the New Yorker, and even trade magazines like Forbes and the Business Insider. So if you're interested in this story, please check out our full list of sources which are detailed and linked in our show's notes. The Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told is a production of Diversion Audio. I'm Mary Kay McBrayer and I hosted this episode. I also wrote this episode. Our show is Produced by Emma DeMuth and edited by Antonio Enriquez. Theme music by Tyler Cash Executive Producer Scott Waxman hi listeners. I'm Mary Kay McBrayer, host of the.

Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told Season 2 podcast and I'm excited to share these riveting stories with you. I'm also excited to tell you that you can now get access to all episodes of the Greatest True Crime stories ever told season one and season two 100% ad free and access all episodes.

Of the Greatest True Crime Stories Ever.

Told Season 2 one week early through the I Heart True Crime plus subscription available exclusively on Apple Podcasts Plus. You'll get access to other chart topping true crime shows you love, like There and Gone, South Street, Paper, Ghosts, Piketon Massacre, Murder Homes, Unrestorable, the Godmother, Betrayal, and more. So don't wait. Head to Apple Podcasts, search for I Heart True Crime plus and subscribe today.

[Unknown]

Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in Bone Valley Season one.

[Gilbert King]

Every time I hear about my dad is oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil.

[Unknown]

I was becoming the bridge between Jeremy Scott and the son he'd never known.

[Gilbert King]

At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.

[Unknown]

Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Holly Fry]

Explore the winding halls of historical true crime with Holly Fry and Maria Tremarki, hosts of Criminalia, as they uncover curious cases from the past. The legend of the Highwayman suggests men dominated the field, but tell that to Lady Catherine Ferrers, known as the wicked lady who terrorized England in the mid-1600s, her legend persists nearly 400 years after her death. Highwaymen are in the hot seat this season. Find more crime and cocktails on Criminalia. Listen to criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Hi listeners, I'm Melissa Jeltson, host of what Happened to Talina Czar? It's the story of a woman who disappears in the early days of COVID lockdowns and the group of online sleuths who try to find her.

[Unknown]

I didn't want to be talked out of this plan. After I post this, I am turning off my phone for exactly this reason.

[Mary Kay McBrayer]

I kept just kind of asking everybody. Anyone else think this is strange?

[Unknown]

You'll notice that about me. I don't lurk. I'm out there. I'm an action kind of girl.

[Melissa Jeltson]

You can now get access to episodes of what happened to Talena Zar? 100% ad free with an iHeart True Crime plus subscription. I'm a subscriber and you should be too, so don't wait. Head to Apple Podcasts, search I Heart True Crime plus and subscribe today.

[Mary Kay McBrayer]

Foreign.

You'Re listening to an I Heart Podcast.