Inside Barry Diller and Diane von Fürstenberg’s Fascinating Relationship Timeline
Diane von Fürstenberg and Barry Diller’s on again/off again relationship began in the 1970s.
Published May 20 2025, 3:03 p.m. ET
Two titans in their respective industries, legendary fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg and billionaire media mogul Barry Diller have been in a decades-long relationship that has endured the test of time. However, with his new memoir hitting shelves, the details of their relationship have piqued public interest.
Diane and Barry’s on-again/off-again relationship began in the 1970s when she was emerging as one of the fashion world’s brightest stars and he was in the Hollywood boardroom making movie stars.
Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg’s relationship began in 1974.
On Tuesday, May 6, ahead of its May 20 release, The Intelligencer published an excerpt of Barry’s memoir, Who Knew, where he opens up with great detail about his sexuality and his over 50-year relationship with wife Diane.
“We met in 1974, separated in 1981, reunited in 1991, married in 2001, and have spent 50 years intertwined with each other in a unique and complete love,” he wrote of the couple’s relationship timeline.
After an initial unsuccessful meeting nine months earlier, it wasn’t until a second meeting at the party for a mutual friend that sparks flew for the two, and they began dating. “Like in the gym scene from West Side Story when everyone else fades away and Tony and Maria are left alone, Diane and I found our way to a sofa, far away from the rest, and we stayed there for a long time,” Barry wrote.
“There was a glow around us that was setting off sparks, accurately described by the French as a coup de foudre,” he continued. “Flushed and completely discombobulated, I said, ‘I’ve got to go,’ and she walked me to the door. I was functioning without a brain, not a thought in my head, being willed on by pure primitive urges. We stood at the door, and I said, ‘I want to call you,’ and she said, ‘I want you to.’”
Then, there was a Hollywood affair that led to their breakup in 1981.
After dating for six years, Barry and Diane’s relationship exploded due to the fashion designer’s affair with then Hollywood newcomer, Richard Gere, fresh off his star-making role in American Gigolo.
“The first chapter of our romance ended in the days of Studio 54,” Barry revealed in the book. “The momentary affair she had with Richard Gere and my overreaction to it lit the spark that would separate us. He was in the middle of making American Gigolo, and the idea that this was happening while he was working for me at Paramount made me feel too much the fool.”
Barry and Diane came back together and eventually married.
The powerhouse couple has now been married for almost 25 years, but they had to tackle a long separation before they got to that point. “It would be 10 years until she came back in my life,” Barry shared. “We’d both had relationships with others that didn’t come close to standing the test of time.”
“But eventually, without plot or plan, we began to tack back into each other’s lives,” he wrote. “It was not the coup de foudre of our first ferocious love — instead we came back together gently, month by month, then day by day, until we coalesced into the couple we are to this day.”
“On Feb. 2, 2001, Diane and I got married, 26 years after our not-so-cute meeting,” Barry shared of the couple’s nuptials. “We knew we were now a couple for life, so we went down to City Hall and found a willing judge to do the vows. That night we surprised everyone in announcing our marriage.”
Speaking about his sexuality and his love for Diane, Barry wrote, “Plain and simple, it was an explosion of passion that kept up for years. And, yes, I also liked guys, but that was not a conflict with my love for Diane.”