Lionel Richie Revisits 1988 Confrontation Between Brenda Harvey and Diane Alexander in Memoir
Long before Lionel Richie was penning his latest memoir, his personal life was making its own headlines. In “Truly,” the legendary singer looks back on a heated 1988 encounter when his first wife, Brenda Harvey, and then-girlfriend, Diane Alexander, went head-to-head in a confrontation he says is impossible to forget.
Richie reflects on the June 1988 clash, describing it as “the point of no return” and “the scandal of the century.”
Before the world knew the full story, the man behind “Endless Love” was already living through a breakup in real time.
“What very few people knew was that Brenda and I were separated,” he admits in “Truly.”
“I got a place at the beach, and I was hiding out there, trying to be alone, trying to decompress somehow, because it was killing everyone.”
That morning, the Grammy winner flew out to Los Angeles to see Alexander. But when the door swung open, his past came crashing in.
“When the door opens, Brenda is standing there,” he recalls.
“There is a massive confrontation. Diane is in total shock and I’m trying to leave, to draw Brenda away. It’s the most awful screaming match of life, and it’s all in this small entryway.”
The blowup spiraled quickly. It was messy enough to land in tabloids, but for the icon, it wasn’t just a spectacle.
“The neighbors called the police. Charges were brought and then dropped,” he writes, calling the fallout a “tragedy” for both him and Alexander, who was left “heartbroken.”
Looking back, the Oscar winner doesn’t sugarcoat what came next.
“That’s the saddest day in the life of a marriage,” he reflects.
“When you know you may love each other, still, and you have a history that you will always have, but it’s over. And you know it.”
Decades later, the 76-year-old has traded scandal for serenity. These days, he’s happily with longtime partner Lisa Parigi, a Swiss-born model and entrepreneur who runs her own lifestyle brand and often joins him on red carpets.
