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José Castelo Branco – the graceful Portuguese socialite whose taut face bears a placing resemblance to Kris Jenner – raised his eyebrows looser at Maxime’s elite members-only membership costume social gathering this weekend. And never simply because he arrived main a “human canine” on a leash.
Branco, 63 — who identifies himself as “he” (but additionally informed us we may name him “she” if we most popular) wears ladies’s clothes and make-up — is at present on trial in Portugal for home violence towards his ex-wife, diamond heiress Woman Betty Grafstein, 97.
A visitor on the Thirties-themed social gathering, which additionally attracted high-end A-listers like designer Stacey Bendet, Jill Kargman, Candace Bushnell, Ann Dexter-Jones and Alexandra Michler Kopelman, tells us that seeing Branco and his costumed companion was “bizarre as fuck.”
“[Branco] “I used to be greeting individuals in entrance with a human on a leash dressed as a canine,” says the supply. “A big white canine with brief, curly hair. They have been kneeling on a canine mattress. [The person was] utterly coated – you couldn’t see their faces.
Like a mascot head? “Sure.” And we hear there was additionally a crimson jeweled canine home that will put Snoopy to disgrace.
Web page Six beforehand reported that Branco — a veteran of the style scene and star of a number of actuality exhibits, together with one referred to as “Misplaced within the Tribe” wherein he went to dwell within the Namibian bush — was arrested and thrown in jail in Portugal in April 2024 after Grafstein, who was in a wheelchair on the time, ended up in hospital, alleging that Branco pushed her and brought about her to fall.
In accordance with native studies, Grafstein was hospitalized for 45 days with accidents to her forearm, bruising to her hip and leg and a fractured pelvis.
Grafstein was married to Albert Grafstein – who ran Grafstein Diamond Corp. along with his brother – within the Sixties.
She married Branco, an avant-garde persona from Mozambique, in 1996. It was her third marriage.
The odd couple have gained quite a lot of followers on social media, documenting their extravagant way of life of events, galas, Chanel garments and Birkin luggage, cosmetic surgery and a lavishly appointed condominium.
Grafstein’s lawyer, Alexandre Guerreiro, tells us that they are going to be in courtroom on October 7 for divorce proceedings.
The trial towards Branco for home violence started in June and resumed after the summer season break on September 22.
On September 29, Grafstein testified through video hyperlink from the US within the Cascais courtroom, alleging to the choose that Branco “attacked me so many occasions.” “I used to be hit all over the place. It occurred so many occasions and for therefore a few years that I do not know anymore,” she mentioned, in keeping with native studies.
The alleged assaults additionally included punching, shoving and choking.
Branco had beforehand denied the allegations. He admitted nothing in courtroom.
He informed us he couldn’t touch upon the case as a result of it’s nonetheless ongoing, however mentioned: “My silence is daring.”
On the subject of sustaining a presence on the social gathering scene, he tells us, “I don’t disguise.”
He’s lively on social media, posting messages across the metropolis and on the lookout for a dentist. Every week in the past, he posted an previous video of him and Grafstein dancing, saying, “I discovered this cute video in the present day in my gallery…I miss my love a lot.” »
The couple was the topic of a prolonged Vainness Honest profile titled “The Twisted True Love Story of Woman Betty Grafstein and José Castelo Branco.”
Grafstein’s son, Roger Basile, claimed within the article that his mom was “penniless” and that her title truly got here from an Irish public relations adviser and diplomatic marketing consultant named Anthony Bailey, not Queen Elizabeth.
Basile additionally claims in VF that he first grew to become conscious of home violence within the late Nineteen Nineties, saying “she was black and blue, from her buttocks to her neck, the place José knocked her down and saved kicking her on the bottom.”
Branco has denied the allegations.
Grafstein’s lawyer tells us: “In 2024, on the age of 95, her life was at risk – as confirmed by the physician who handled her in Portugal – and the assist of everybody round her, in addition to the reassurance that José wouldn’t see her once more, gave her the energy to place an finish to the abuse. »