Louise Linton is super-duper sorry for being so gauche and tacky

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We first became familiar with Louise Linton last year, when she threw a tantrum on social media when someone called her “deplorable” after she bragged about a taking a taxpayer-funded day trip to Fort Knox and tagged the IG post with all of the designers she wore. She only became Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s third wife last year, and she easily fell into every stereotype about a golddigging third wife to a nouveau riche dude. I mean, she grew up in a castle in Scotland, so it’s not like she was born to hustle, but she just seems very crass and gauche, and like a living example they should give to every rich man: you get what you pay for. Anyway, Louise Linton is worried about her image. She’s worried that the peasants hate her. So she sat down with Elle Magazine for a piece that honestly reads like satire. It’s not satire. You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:

Super-duper: She’s fond of the expression super-duper. She is “super-duper” sorry for all of the missteps in her self-presentation. She finds the idea of doing a reality TV show, which many people have floated to her in recent months, to be “super-duper” scary.

She loves Snapchat: She enjoys taking cute selfies with Mnuchin using the Snapchat filters that make people look like puppies and piglets. Against her husband’s wishes, she shows them to me. (“I didn’t even know she had Snapchat,” her press rep says, faintly concerned.)

She loves dogs but not homeless people: She is obsessed with dogs, especially sick ones. So much so that she once made friends with a homeless man named Richard in a park in Los Angeles because she was concerned about the health of his dog. She wound up paying the vet bill.

Why she threw a tantrum on social media: “I think after being kicked and slapped on social media a billion times, I had this one time. This lady said I was a deplorable human being, and that hurt,” Linton says, her voice trembling in sincere horror and self-pity. Her hands are shaking. “So I had this knee-jerk reaction and I was like…blarghhhh. I was feeling like a regular person. And regular people, when someone says something mean to you on social media, regular people are allowed to respond.” It’s clear that she identifies much more strongly with a battered dalmatian puppy than Cruella de Vil. “I felt like the kid on the playground that has been so bullied, and finally you punch back…. I was so stupid… I wish I could take it back. I wasn’t thinking about who I am. I wasn’t thinking, I am the wife of this person and thus I should act like the wife of this person.”

Her memoir, In Congo’s Shadow: One Girl’s Perilous Journey to the Heart of Africa:
She painted herself as a Mother Teresa figure bravely navigating the all-encompassing threats of Mother Africa. She wrote of being frightened of rebels targeting her, the “skinny white muzungu with long angel hair,” and of her “special comfort in my bond” with an orphan, a “smiling gap-toothed child with HIV whose greatest joy was to sit on my lap and drink from a bottle of Coca-Cola.” The book—the type of thing that would have gone wholly unnoticed if it weren’t such a stark example of white upper-class privilege—was received so poorly that Linton took it out of print and issued a public apology. It also sparked a Twitter hashtag, #LintonLies, detailing its myriad inaccuracies (the Daily Telegraph, which had run an excerpt, eventually withdrew the article from its site and issued an apology). “My greatest sorrow is that the effect of my book was the exact opposite of what my intention was,” Linton says now.

How her BFF Shona Hampel explains how out-of-touch Linton seems: “Louise was blessed and fortunate enough to be raised in a Scottish castle, and to not understand the reality of some human beings with a different background.”

Is she narcoleptic? Mnuchin makes an effort to bring her friends into their lives. He’s invited Hampel and her family to stay with them multiple times. “She can fall asleep anywhere. She’ll fall asleep on the sofa in front of a film and he’ll carry her up to sleep. And then she’ll fall asleep in the bathroom,” Hampel says.

[From Elle]

Elle was super-duper shady about how they wrote that piece and how they framed so many of Linton’s quotes, and I am super-duper into what they did. Linton obviously agreed to the interview because she thought “it’s Elle, it will be soft-focus, I’ll get to show a more human side” so while she’s going on and on about how she’s super-duper normal, Elle is couching her quotes with information about her mansion on Massachusetts Avenue and making her sound like… well, what she is. A vapid trophy wife. There’s nothing wrong with being a vapid trophy wife, mind you. I would give up my current gig in a heartbeat to sit in a mansion and wait for my rich husband to come home. But the problem was always “what parts of Linton’s life are taxpayer funded?” and “wow, she comes across as extremely tacky for the wife of one of the most powerful men in the country.”

People were also clutching their pearls about the Elle photos of Linton. I mean… should she have worn pants for her photoshoot? Sure. But why would we expect a cabinet secretary’s third wife to wear pants? We are setting the bar too high.

Photos courtesy of Elle and Getty.

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72 Responses to “Louise Linton is super-duper sorry for being so gauche and tacky”

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  1. LAK says:

    I am forever grateful to her for inspiring the IG account Saviour Barbie. It’s the gift that keeps on giving, like #pippatips. https://www.instagram.com/barbiesavior/?hl=en

    • Tiffany says:

      Whoever commits to doing those, is doing the Lord’s work.

      That is fantastic.

    • tw says:

      YESSSS. OMG, how did I not know about this?!

    • Nicole says:

      Agreed LAK. When Saviour Barbie became a thing I died. Its a gift

    • Valiantly Varnished says:

      I had no idea she was the inspo for that account. Savior Barbie is the best thing Instagram has ever given us – besides Beyonce’s account.

    • Talie says:

      I loved SocalityBarbie too…the one who lived in Portland, drank expensive coffee and did beach mist photo shoots.

    • Renee says:

      @ LAK, Thank you for sharing this. This IG is hilarious!

    • magnoliarose says:

      This IG is hilarious.

    • Indiana Joanna says:

      LOL. Thanks, LAK!

    • FredsMother says:

      LAK, I love you! Dead. LOL.I love Barbie Savior. I work in development aid work for ACP countries and live in Europe. So I like to think that I see both worlds for what they are. My colleagues in ACP countries and I die when we get together. The stories we have. Let’s all begin from Africa is a continent not a country and that they have many black billionaires there…. In the Caribbean I know a wealthy businessman who avoids traffic by riding in his helicopter to work, meanwhile in Asia, those same saviour Barbies”exchange their favours” for pretty gems from Asian billionaires. But I don’t mind the saviour mentality–it keeps me in work. Dead Aid and all that. The West and their saviour mentality: major salve they apply for the facking rip-off and bleeding of the natural and human resources of the third world. Don’t get me started on DFID wanting to cut its aid money so they act like they didn’t know the shit OXFAM has been up to for years…

    • raincoaster says:

      Oooh, instant follow, thank you.

    • FLORC says:

      Pure gold LAK!
      And LL is hands down .y favorite Real Life Disney villain.

  2. Mrs. WelenMelon says:

    Super-duper deplorable.

    • Esmom says:

      I came here to say exactly that. Holy hell is she an unbelievable piece of work.

    • INeedANap says:

      I read the interview and all I learned is that she is the purest form of over-privileged, clueless airhead. And that inexplicably, Steve Mnuchin seems to really love her.

      • AMA1977 says:

        How much do you think that Steve Mnuchin would “love” her if she were:
        1. 20 years older, or
        2. 50 pounds heavier, or
        3. had a thought in that empty little head, or
        4. didn’t pretend to love him so she can have free reign with his black Amex?

        They deserve each other.

  3. Kathryn says:

    she looks a lot like Ivanka in the black n white photo

  4. Indiana Joanna says:

    Remind me again–is she one of those mentally ill women who likes to fight everyone and obssess over herself on those trashy housewife series?

    • Neelyo says:

      Not yet. Give her a few more years.

    • Heather says:

      I was going to say…she’s probably angling to raise her profile and become some kind of movie star, but in truth, she’ll be the hit of real housewives of the Trump White House, and that’s pretty much her ceiling.

    • BorderMollie says:

      She certainly has the face for it…

  5. Reef says:

    lolollolol. I just…lol. That story about the homeless man and the dog. Whoo. This lady is…Bless her heart.

    • emma33 says:

      When they said they RANG the guy to confirm?! Hahaha. That was all just so ridiculous. Elle gives the best shade.

  6. Neelyo says:

    ‘Regular people’?

    She’s not very good at this whole damage control thing, is she?

    • Lacia Can says:

      Look, she’s so regular! Doesn’t everyone sit around pantsless in a pair of blue suede Laboutin stilettos? They’re so practical! Honestly, she clearly can’t help herself. She got a taste of everyone talking about her and she liked it. 🙄

      • Honey says:

        Lol. The shoes were totally lost on me. I saw the red shoe sole but it didn’t really register. I looked at her pose and thought her message was “he married me cause I’m nimble b*tches”😊😊. I didn’t think about her showing off her shoes.

      • Lorelai says:

        She is ridiculous.

        And I realize this is the exact opposite of the point we’re supposed to take away here, but I do really like her white sweater! The magazine doesn’t ID it, though.

      • Neelyo says:

        What’s really funny is she has bad legs. No tone or shape at all. She has (or had) a ton of sexy pictures on her website and they just proved she had no sex appeal whatsoever.

    • megs283 says:

      also, not for nothing, but most “regular people” don’t lash out at someone on social media. (We do it at home, in our peasanty small houses, while drinking our boxed wine and complaining to our husbands or friends.)

  7. Tess says:

    My favorite parts are how she doesn’t consider herself regular and how the writer was basically like “she was so exaggerated I almost expected her to start banging her face on the table.” Sorry Louise, you’re still a bad actress

  8. stephka says:

    Here’s a tip: if you are remotely associated with a political figure, do not allow yourself to be photographed pants-less. This photo reminds me of John Edwards’s mistress Rielle Hunter’s pants-less photo for that GQ profile.

    https://www.gq.com/story/rielle-hunter-john-edwards-exclusive-interview-web-only

    • Heather says:

      Great interview! She posed pantless on a bed to give an interview about how some youtube videos purportedly of her in a bikini on a yacht weren’t even her, and how absurd that people would believe that they were, lol. This lady was good value!

    • M says:

      The pic totally reminded me of Rielle Hunter’s photoshoot – that didn’t go over well either.

    • Esmom says:

      Omg, this reminds me of so many past sex scandals that have brought politicians down. Unreal how nothing, NOTHING sticks to Trump no matter how deplorable his behavior.

  9. Heather says:

    This whole crew feels bullied and put upon while they suck up the earth’s last 100 years of resources in half a decade.

  10. Jordan says:

    One of the rare cases a woman is better seen and not heard. Especially when she’s super duper over.

  11. BearcatLawyer says:

    This is a prime example of a PR rep who pitched a redemption tale and got played HARD by the magazine and the writer. Elle is fast becoming one of my favourites thanks to profiles like this and R. Eric Thomas’ columns on Elle.com.

    • Renee says:

      Right! Somehow Lyin’ Louise & her team thought this was going to be redemptive. What a joke! Good on Elle for not allowing any spin on this piece.

  12. Valiantly Varnished says:

    The people at Elle should be given some kind of award because this is some next level shade. And the fact that they used her own words against her – brilliant.

    • Lorelai says:

      @Valiantly, ITA but I was dismayed at the number of people yesterday who were taking it seriously and bashing Elle/cancelling their subscriptions in protest, etc.
      I have no idea how they missed the fact that she was totally played by the magazine!

    • whyhanie says:

      This. It was a riot. I cant stop laughing reading it tbh. The shade is so strong and all over the place. But I but she is such an idiot, she wont understand it.

  13. Jenny says:

    Let this be a reminder to us all that cheek implants/fillers do not do any of us any favors. I am all for people doing as they please with their own bodies, but man – I find this particular procedure NEVER looks good on anyone, yet women continue to do it! Madonna, Courtney Cox, Heather Locklear, Christie Brinkley, Cindy Crawford, Jada Pinkett-Smith, this “woman”…their cheeks all look so big that their eyes look sunken in and they take on this very unnatural feline appearance. Why?! I will say though, Courtney is looking much better these days having dissolved some of her fillers. And again, I’ll re-iterate that a woman should do as they please with their bodies. It is just my personal opinon that the cheek fillers/implants look terrible.

  14. Frida_K says:

    The white sweater (lots of white there!) with the teeny-tiny dots of red (bottoms of her super-duper expensive shoes; squee!) and blue (suede shoes, just like an Elvis song…a touch of Americana for the win!) makes me wonder just what subliminal message they were trying to send. Red, white, and blue–I got it, but…? White sure seems to be supreme here, doesn’t it?

    Elle Magazine, like the New York Times, is cancelled for me. Yes, they made her look like an absolute fool but that message will be lost on the ones who need it most. And meantime, she’s validated in some slimy way by this attention because for people like these ones, any attention is good attention.

    She’s trash. Pathetic, striving, toxic trash. She looks like a fool in her red-white-n-blue picture but I’ll bet the nationalists will love it and think she’s super-duper classy, kind of the way they view Melania.

    What can I say here? What can anyone say? It’s a trashy puff piece and so is Elle for running with it.

  15. jferber says:

    She is totally canceled in my book. As Oprah says, once a person shows you who she is, believe her the first time. Tacky, gold-digging Euro-Trash she shall forever be.

    • Honey says:

      That was Maya Angelou not Oprah. But your point is your point, and it’s a good one.

    • magnoliarose says:

      Was she ever approved? I mean Domina Louise was born ridiculous right down her pretending she was nobility. Her castle is a business, and there are plenty of Scottish castles that can be bought for relatively not a lot of money. It sounds much more impressive than it is.
      Domina Louise has created an out of touch rich girl persona, and this sad bitch believes it. She was a so-called “actress” in the same vein that Melania was a “model”.
      And she is not an heiress except if her sub Steve kicks it anytime soon.
      He really should invest in a personal food taster.

  16. Lila says:

    IMO Louise Linton actually thinks that her affinity for the phrase “super-duper” is what makes her a “normal person.” As in, she’s “SUPER-DUPER” sorry that she’s so rich and so beautiful that it makes her disconnected from all of us peasants. She really fits into the Trump world.

  17. Sarah B says:

    People who take a lot of Xanax also fall asleep anywhere…

  18. hogtowngooner says:

    This woman is so annoying. When she posed for that photo with the money sheet, someone on Twitter was like “There’s no such thing as First Lady of the Treasury. That’s not a thing. Stop going to work with your husband.”

    I swear, people like her spend far more energy trying to LOOK like good people, as opposed to just BEING good people. The white saviour from her atrocious “book” and the appalling reply on that infamous IG post is who she really is.

    Shoving her “goodness” down our throats is not the way rehab her image. She seems to love animals, so start volunteering at a DC shelter and actually make a positive difference. And STAHP with the poor me pieces in your Louboutins. Her publicist should be fired.

    • Lorelai says:

      That’s a good point — why is she even with him on all of these “work” trips? In the past, have we ever even known who the Treasury Secretary was married to?

      • Chrissy says:

        Didn’t she go along on that trip because he was taking her to see the total eclipse from the best vantage point near the treasury/ money printing place? Either way using taxpayer money for anything personal is verboten. They should have had to pay for that trip on Air Force One. SMD This women needs to learn some humility. She’s accomplished nothing much in her life except bagging an ugly millionaire.

  19. madonami says:

    1. omg, when i saw “louise linton is super duper sorry” trending on twitter yesterday, i was all “not today, satan” and didn’t look at it. i thought the “super duper” thing was twitter’s shady way of framing it or something the article’s author had written, not, y’know, a centerpiece of louise’s vocabulary. jfc.

    2. i have read that the scottish castle thing is bs and that her father bought a beatdown old building that was technically once a castle as a reno or something, and that they barely lived there, and that she turned that into “i was raised in a scottish castle” to be – – more gauche? i have no idea.

    3. thoughts and prayers to whoever had to read that book for the elle piece. they deserve a raise.

    4. we are all going to need to be brain-flashed by that men in black thing after this “administration” is over to get all of the ick out of our heads. i’m not sure passing around the brain bleach will do the trick. we need something industrial strength.

    • magnoliarose says:

      She is full of it. She didn’t live in it. There are broken down Scottish piles all over the country. It became an event place, and I don’t even know if it is part of the National Trust or ever was.

    • Alexis says:

      @madonamiI… love your comment!!

  20. Ruyana says:

    My favorite FB reply to her after she posted the taxpayer-funded plane trip and the price of all her clothes was: “Well, Louise, I’m wearing a 10 dollar dress and I don’t have to f**k Steve Mnunchin.”

    • Teebee says:

      …and if she keeps “falling asleep” all the time, neither does she! Such a hilarious but obvious ruse…

  21. SayWhat says:

    Can you name any past Cabinet Member’s spouses of the last few Presidents have ever given interviews or posed for a fashion magazine. I think it is self-indulgent, odd, maybe not appropriate since her husband is a public servant and out of touch.

  22. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch says:

    LOL! A million bonus points to her ghost-writer for using Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” to perfectly describe this clueless white supremacist.

    “I gave an orphan a coke once. I’m a super-duper missionary!”

  23. A says:

    “I didn’t even know she had Snapchat,” her press rep says, faintly concerned.

    “Faintly concerned” Lord help us all, we really are going to die because of this administration aren’t we.

  24. holly hobby says:

    I am super duper pissed that these clowns are eating off us. Hey Mnuchin. How about giving up your salary in exchange for those Trump meal boxes?

  25. ysoto says:

    Super duper article!!!