Hutton Says Ex's Lies Made Her Depressed, Vengeful

ByABC News
May 10, 2001, 2:19 PM

May 9 -- The last year has been a rough one for model-actress Lauren Hutton, but that's nothing compared to her painful past. The toothy star has revealed that she was involved in a 20-year relationship with a man who spent her modeling fortune, cheated on her, and spread rumors that she was gay.

Hutton, 57, has made her first major interview since recovering from a near fatal motorcycle crash last fall a significant one. She tells Vanity Fair magazine the extraordinary tale of her relationship with Bob Williamson, who died almost four years ago, as a warning to other women who fall for father figures. "I had a shattered childhood with no father," Hutton said. " I wanted a daddy so badly that nothing else mattered."

Hutton spoke out for the first time about the 100-mph motorcycle crash that left her with multiple scars and unable to walk comfortably without a cane. She suffered broken bones, a punctured lung, and multiple cuts when she went off the road Oct. 21 during a celebrity motorcycle ride in the Nevada desert. "Since the accident, most of the time I'm more happy, more peaceful, more content than I've ever been in my life. I'm much more sane since this happened," Hutton told Vanity Fair.

Prior to the accident, Hutton said she was extremely angry and depressed about Williamson, whom she met at the age of 21. Williamson, whom Hutton called "Bob God," oversaw her career during a period when she was one of the most-recognized faces of the 1970s.

According to Hutton, Williamson controlled all of her money; she laments the $30 million she should be worth, had she put her earnings in the bank. "I used to sign entire checkbooks for Bob; he would pay everything. I never paid a bill till I was 47," she said, adding that her boyfriend squandered her fortune. "All my money from those years is gone," Hutton said.

When, at the age of 41, Hutton told Williamson she was ready to have children, "He blew up and said, 'I don't want to ever have children. I'm your baby.' That's when I started to unravel."