Relationships
Bergé lived with his lover Bernard Buffet from 1950 to 1958.[20] In 1958, they had a falling out over Bergé's new friendship with fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent.[21]
Bergé had an on-and-off relationship with model Victoire Doutreleau for three years in the 1960s.[22]
Bergé and Saint Laurent ended their romantic relationship in 1976 but remained business partners.[11] According to The New York Times, a few days before Saint Laurent died in 2008, he and Bergé were joined in a same-sex civil union known as a pacte civil de solidarité (PACS) in France.[23] When Saint Laurent was diagnosed with brain cancer, Bergé and the doctor mutually decided that it would be better for him not to know of his impending death. Bergé said, "I have the belief that Yves would not have been strong enough to accept that."[24] During Bergé's eulogy of Saint Laurent, he reflected on their lifetime of memories, saying: "I remember your first collection under your name and the tears at the end. Then the years passed. Oh, how they passed quickly. The divorce was inevitable but the love never stopped."[1]
On 31 March 2017, Bergé married Madison Cox, a landscape architect and gardener, in Paris.[6][20]
Political views
Bergé has been described as a social liberal and a political conservative.[25] He voted for Valéry Giscard d’Estaing in the 1970s.[25] In 1988, Bergé launched the French magazine Globe, which supported the candidacy of François Mitterrand for the presidential election.[2] Bergé participated in all the campaign rallies of François Mitterrand (contrary to 1981, when he did not vote for Mitterrand).[26]
A supporter of gay rights, he supported the association against AIDS, Act Up-Paris, and assumed ownership of the magazine Têtu. He was also one of the shareholders of Pink TV, before withdrawing. In 1994, he participated with Line Renaud in the creation of the AIDS association Sidaction, and he became its president in 1996 until his death.[27]
Philanthropy and cultural interests
Bergé later served as President of the association of the friends of Institut François-Mitterrand. In 1993, he helped to launch the magazine Globe Hebdo.[30]
A longtime fan and patron of opera, Mitterrand appointed Bergé president of Opéra Bastille on 31 August 1988. He retired from the post in 1994, becoming honorary president of the Paris National Opera. He was president of the Médiathèque Musicale Mahler, a non-profit library with extensive collections relating to 19th and 20th century music.[7] He was president of the Comité Jean Cocteau, and the owner of the moral rights of all of Jean Cocteau's works.[31]
Bergé's philanthropic patronages have included UNESCO. In July 1992, Bergé was appointed a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.[32]
Controversy
He triggered a controversy by accusing the of "parasitising the generosity of French people in a populist manner",[35] of not using donations immediately and making real estate investments. The (AFM), which organises the charitable program, denied Bergé's accusations.[36] Following the repeated attacks by the businessman, the AFM filed a complaint for defamation in February 2010.[37] On 28 June 2013, the 17th Chamber of the Paris Criminal Court sentenced him to a €1,500 fine.[38]
On 16 March 2013, on Twitter, Bergé retweeted the following message: "If a bomb explodes on the Champs Elysees because of the "#laManifPourTous", I won't be the one crying." This retweet triggered strong reactions because, according to the "Manif pour tous" organisation, it is an incitement to acts of terrorism.[39] In June, he appeared on the TV show Le Petit Journal, and mentioned this episode, declaring that he was "non-violent".
Collections
The art collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Bergé was put up for sale by the latter in February 2009, with two of twelve bronze statue heads looted from the Old Summer Palace in China during the Second Opium War among them. When China requested the return of these statues, Bergé refused and declared "I am prepared to offer this bronze head to the Chinese straight away. All they have to do is to declare they are going to apply human rights, give the Tibetans back their freedom and agree to accept the Dalai Lama on their territory." Bergé's self-admitted "political blackmail" was received with criticism in China.[44] After Chinese art collector, businessman, and advisor to the PRC's National Treasures Fund, Cai Mingchao placed the winning bid and refused to pay on "moral and patriotic grounds," Bergé decided to retain ownership of them. Later on in a ceremony on 29 June 2013, François Pinault (CEO Kering) returned the artifacts to the Chinese National Museum, Beijing.[45]
During the filming of Yves Saint Laurent in 2014, the Fondation Pierre Bergé — Yves Saint Laurent, which holds 7,000 vintage outfits from its archives, played an active role in providing authentic material and fashion of Saint Laurent.[46]
