Jezebel: Spies

Coco Chanel Was Allegedly A Nazi Spy

Jenna Sauers — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 14:00:00 EDT

A new biography of Coco Chanel sheds more light on her wartime activities, and the house of Chanel seems to be bracing itself for backlash. What was ol' Gabrielle up to during World War II? Palling around with Nazis at the Ritz, basically — but the house of Chanel is denying that its founder and namesake spied for the German regime, and that she was actually anti-Semitic. Coco Chanel had an affair with Hans Gunther von Dincklage, a Nazi military intelligence officer and immediate subordinate of Joseph Goebbels, during World War II, and was close with Walter Schellenberg, the Nazi head of foreign intelligence; she also sought to wrest control of the Chanel company from her Jewish business partners, the Wertheimers, under the Nazi anti-Jewish ownership laws. (She failed because the Wertheimers had secretly transferred ownership of the company to a Christian prior to the Nazi invasion of France.) Coco Chanel lived in Switzerland for nine years after the war's end, in part to avoid prosecution as a collaborator; although her ties to various Nazi figures have long been well-known, the author of Sleeping with the Enemy: Coco Chanel's Secret War has added significant original research to our understanding of that period of her life. The book even makes the claim that Coco Chanel herself was a Nazi spy. Author Hal Vaughan says, "I was looking for something else and I come across this document saying 'Chanel is a Nazi agent, her number is blah, blah, blah and her pseudonym is Westminster.' I look at this again and I say, 'What the hell is this?' I couldn't believe my eyes! Then I really started hunting through all of the archives, in the United States, in London, in Berlin and in Rome and I come across not one, but 20, 30, 40 absolutely solid archival materials on Chanel and her lover, Baron Hans Gunther von Dincklage, who was a professional Abwehr spy." Modern-day Chanel's response? "She would hardly have formed a relationship with the family of the owners or counted Jewish people among her close friends and professional partners such as the Rothschild family, the photographer Irving Penn or the well-known French writer Joseph Kessel had these really been her views." So, basically, she had Jewish friends. Chanel also denies that Coco Chanel spied for the Nazi regime, calls the timing of her relationship with Dincklage "unfortunate" but points out that his mother was English (as though that mattered), and asserts that she approached Winston Churchill about "acting as an intermediary between the Allies and the Germans for a peace settlement known as Operation Modelhut." That makes Operation Modelhut sound pretty benign, but the truth is a lot more complicated; the Times of London called Operation Modelhut a "Nazi plot" that was to use Coco Chanel as "bait." [Vogue UK] More »

Russian Spy Stars In Russian Spy Spoof

Margaret Hartmann — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 13:40:00 EST

Anna Chapman can add actress to her bizarre resume after playing herself in a parody of a popular Soviet spy film. The spoof ran during New Year's programming on Russia's state-controlled TV network and portrayed Chapman as a patriot. More »

Sexy Spy Show Undercovers Canceled

Dodai Stewart — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 10:18:00 EDT

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J.J. Abrams' sexy series starring Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw has been canceled after seven episodes. An insider says: "Unfortunately we never got an audience from the get-go." (Lost fans: J.J. is now free to work on the Locke/Linus project.) More »

Rabbi Approves "Honeypot Sex" For Female Spies

Irin Carmon — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 15:57:00 EDT

In a study, "Illicit sex for the sake of national security," an Israeli rabbi has noted that seducing the enemy is sanctioned by the Bible, most famously in the Esther story. Question: What is the dude equivalent of "honeypot"? More »

Undercovers: Sexpionage Made Easy

Dodai Stewart — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 15:23:00 EDT

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Now that we have a sexy, happily married black couple in the White House, a sexy, happily married black couple has magically appeared in a non-sitcom on primetime TV. More »

Tips And Tricks: His Semen Will Make You A Better Spy

Anna North — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 15:29:00 EDT

British spies during WWI apparently discovered that semen makes great invisible ink. Spy chief Mansfield Cumming (yes) was "delighted" by the discovery, but the spy who discovered the spooge-ink had to leave "after becoming the butt of jokes." More »

Women Believe Sleeping With The Boss Is A Good Career Move

Katy Kelleher — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:30:00 EDT

According to researchers, some 37% of office workers believe that sleeping with the boss can help you get ahead and 34% of women in executive positions say they know someone who has slept with their boss.

Sexy Russian Spy Puts Celebrity Mugshots To Shame

Katy Kelleher — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:35:00 EDT

This newly-released, remarkably nice mugshot is the last picture taken of accused Russian spy Anna Chapman on U.S. soil, before she was deported earlier this month, which (hopefully) marks the end of her allotted fifteen minutes. [Image via Splash.] More »

Russian Spy Anna Chapman Rules Bizarre Facebook Posse

Anna North — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:46:00 EDT

We're not sure what's weirder — that sexy Russian spy Anna Chapman is putting inspiring quotes on her Facebook page while being debriefed by the Russian government, or that so many people are watching. More »

Russian Spy Case May Heading To Quick Resoluton

Irin Carmon — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 18:00:00 EDT

The Times reports that federal dealmaking with the Russian spies will end this business swiftly. But the press is not nearly done mining the sexy spy's sexy history! More »

Super Sexy Russian Spy Set Her Sexy Sights On Sexing William, Harry

Sadie Stein — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 11:54:00 EDT

In good news for wordsmiths at the New York Post, who had officially run out of Bond film puns, there's a new twist to the Anna Chapman story: she had the hots for the princes royal: More »

Angelina Is Worth Her Salt

Katy Kelleher — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 10:10:00 EDT

[Cancun, June 30. Image via AP]

Detained American Hikers To Wed

Katy Kelleher — Mon, 24 May 2010 10:40:00 EDT

Shane Bauer and Sarah Shourd, two of the American hikers being held in Iran on suspicion of spying, have just gotten engaged. According to their moms, Bauer proposed in the prison exercise area with a ring made from thread. [AP] More »

Russian Model Is Modern Mata Hari • Palin: Obama "Promoting Shameful Myth"

Katy Kelleher — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 17:20:00 EDT

• Ekaterina Gerasimova is supposedly a latter day Russian Mata Hari. Political figures claim that she has been trusted with the mission of ruining their reputations by luring them into compromising situations with sex and drugs. More »

The Spy Who Shagged Me

Anna North — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:20:00 EDT

When spies seduce you to learn your secrets, it's called a "honey trap", and history's rife with examples. My favorite: "Romeo spies" assigned to "seek out powerful, unmarried women, romance them, and squeeze from them all their secrets." [FP] More »

Meghan Thinks The GOP Is Scared; Pat Thinks You're Gay

Megan Carpentier — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:00:00 EDT

Meghan McCain thinks older Republicans are scared shitless at the thought of changing their position on same-sex marriage. She doesn't realize that it's because their boyfriends might start demanding it. [Huffington Post]

Julia Child: International Woman Of Mystery

Sadie Stein — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:20:00 EDT

Awesome! It seems that during World War II, French Chef Julia Child was a spy — one can only assume the least inconspicuous spy in the history of the world. It has just been revealed that Child was part of an international anti-Nazi spy ring managed by the Office of Strategic Services, an early version of the CIA. The previously classified files will identify the "nearly 24,000 spies who formed the first centralized intelligence effort by the United States." The OSS, which included civilians from all walks of life, "studied military plans, created propaganda, infiltrated enemy ranks and stirred resistance among foreign troops." Post-war, the agency was absorbed into the nascent CIA, and the many spies in the network never spoke about their covert activities. "I was told to keep my mouth shut," says 93-year-old Walter Mess. Or, in the case of Julia, to fill it with foie gras. [AP] More »

Badass British Broad Led Thousands Of French Fighters To Glory

Jessica G. — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:30:00 EDT

The exploits of Pearl Cornioley, a British spy who led thousands of French Resistance fighters in guerrilla missions against the Germans, were just declassified by English intelligence, says today's International Herald Tribune. We wrote about her death earlier this month, and now that more information has come to light about her daring, it's clear she was a total badass. According to the IHT, Pearl, who went by the alias Genevieve Touzalin, concealed secret messages in the hem of her skirt when she was parachuted in from England. She started her spying career as a secretary for the Air Ministry, but she really wanted to get her hands dirty, so she used her French fluency (she was raised by British expats in France) to secure a position as a Special Operations Executive agent. At first, her superiors didn't think she was anything special, but her aim with a pistol was "Probably the best shot (male or female) we have had yet," according to recently-declassified documents. More »

Al Gore Not Running For President, Son In Rehab: Coincidence? We Think Not

Jennifer — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 19:15:28 EDT

Al "I'm The Man Who Was Elected President, But Whatever I'm A Movie Star Now" Gore has "fallen out of love" with politics, he says. And thus will not be running for president... again. If this is true, what a drama queen! If this isn't true, what an even bigger drama queen! Simmer down, Al! (And if you need some help with that, we're sure your son has some pills that could help.) [CNN]