As Separation Rumors Swirl, Tinsley Mortimer Stays Home While Topper Loses Weight

Tinsley Mortimer and her husband, hedge funder Topper Mortimer, are reportedly telling friends that they've been separated since December. And according to Page Six, Mr. Mortimer is responsible for the split.

A unnamed source "close to the couple" tells Page Six, "Tinsley was getting fed up that their 'don't ask, don't tell' agreement was being violated by [Topper's] promiscuous ways."

Judging from this quote, a part of the Mortimers' marriage "agreement" was apparently that Mr. Mortimer could entertain himself in the company of other women while his wife was out promoting the Mortimer name (in Rainbow Brite costumes and the like). He was not obligated, as other socialites' husbands sometimes are, to accompany her to the many events filling her social calendar and she, in return, would not ask too many questions about what he did to fill his time while she was out. 

In a 2007 New York Times piece about the couple, the writer indicated that while Tinsley had become one of the most visible faces in New York's social scene, Topper, "who only rarely accompanies his wife on the town, is something of a mystery."

But lately, Mrs. Mortimer's attendance at galas and cocktail parties has significantly waned. For example, in December 2006, when the Mortimers appeared to be happily married, she was photographed at five different events by Patrick McMullan's photographers. (On Mr. McMullan's Web site, 150 pages are devoted to photographs of her.) But this December she was only photographed at one cocktail party. And if we just compare the first half of 2008, when Mrs. Mortimer was photographed attending 30 different parties and galas, with the latter half of 2006, when she was photographed at only 15, something definitely seems to be off. 

Meanwhile, of late Mr. Mortimer has been seen bar-hopping with his buddies downtown, looking about 15 pounds lighter—with what one observer tells us was "an added bounce in his step."