Less obviously, there was nagging model competition. As Ms. Johnson grew in fame, she worried that young black models, especially Iman, would overshadow her, a prospect that added to her already mounting fears.
It also didn’t help that she and her peers often turned to cocaine to suppress their appetites. Johnson said drugs are an occupational hazard, she said. “As a model, you had to be a hanger-on. You could weigh 90 pounds and be chiseled to the bone, but they adored you for it. You can’t lose too much weight.” Yo.”
Perhaps inevitably, she developed body dysmorphic disorder that plagues her to this day. “I have been treated for this disease all my life,” she said. “I think I’m fat now.”
In her stage monologue, similar to her memoir, she recalled that she had come to regret her two marriages, particularly her 1977 marriage to Mr. Sims. Her Mr. Sims’ infidelity and threats of violence drove her into depression and her further drug addiction. She asked her sister, Sheila, a therapist and school guidance counselor, to help her, but Johnson said in an interview that she bluntly asked, “Will I die if I continue this relationship?” . Will I really die physically? ”
“And I thought, ‘Yes, I’m going to die.'” That was the epiphany that led to her divorcing Mr. Sims in 1979. Anantha, who was a toddler at the time, was sent to live with her father, and only her mother returned to her home. teens.
Over the years, Ms. Johnson has had relationships with tennis star Arthur Ashe, boxer Mike Tyson and actor Chris Noth. About 12 years ago, she settled in Palm Springs, California, with financier Brian Maylian, who accompanied her to New York last week. they married in October.