The Truth About Paulina Porizkova And Ric Ocasek
Paulina Porizkova and Ric Ocasek were one of the highest profile celebrity couples of the 1980s. The supermodel first met the rock star on the set of The Cars' 1984 music video for the song "Drive." Ocasek, who was 20 years Porizkova's senior, was still married to his second wife, Suzanne, when he met the Czech-born model, according to Page Six. The power couple began dating and wed in 1989, when Porizkova was 24 and Ocasek was 45. They stayed together for nearly 30 years.
Even after they split, fans were in the dark. The couple, who had two sons together, Jonathan and Oliver, quietly separated two years before Ocasek's death and still operated as a family unit. Porizkova even spent time at her ex's New York City townhouse to take care of him following heart surgery just before his death on September 15, 2019.
Porizkova told Rolling Stone that she stopped to check on Ocasek the night before his death and that he told her he was "feeling a little sore" from his surgery. She returned the next morning and thought he was still sleeping, but when she checked on him she found him dead. "I poured the coffee and came upstairs to give it to him and he was in the exact same position. He hadn't even moved a little bit," Porizkova explained. "And at that point, I knew, but I couldn't believe it."
Ocasek was 75 when he died of heart disease. But his death unleashed an unexpected final chapter in his fractured fairytale with Porizkova.
Ric Ocasek wrote Paulina Porizkova out of his will and accused her of abandoning him
Shortly after Ric Ocasek died, Paulina Porizkova was blindsided by last-minute changes he had made to his will. "I have made no provision for my wife ... as we are in the process of divorcing," the rock star's will stated, per Page Six. "Even if I should die before our divorce is final ... Paulina is not entitled to any elective share ... because she has abandoned me."
Ocasek's claims about his estranged wife were a far cry from the solid unit Porizkova had continued to portray after the couple's separation. Weeks after the Ocaseks posed as a family with their sons at The Cars' 2018 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, Porizkova took to Instagram to issue a statement about her family's status. The former Sports Illustrated model confirmed that she continued to post "happy family photos" because the foursome was just that, even though she and Ocasek were no longer a couple.
After Ocasek's unexpected death — and the financial fallout from it — Porizkova went through a long stage of grieving. She posted photos on social media as she cleared out 30 years of memories she shared with her late husband, and she tearfully moved out of their New York City brownstone, per USA Today. Porizkova later shared an Instagram post to conclude that she was "clearly delusional" during her marriage to the rocker. She added that, while grieving him, she experienced "an equal amount of heartbreak and rage."