Sid Bass—Mercedes Kellogg

Sid Bass—Mercedes Kellogg refers to the affair that the diary records as a major subject of social and press gossip in 1986. Its significance in the account lies not only in the reported relationship but in how quickly it became public knowledge, shaped the movements of people around the couple, and supplied material for detailed journalistic coverage. The diary reports the affair through social observation rather than through direct testimony from Sid Bass or Mercedes Kellogg, so its claims and predictions remain framed by the narrator’s perspective.

The affair becomes public talk

By September 1986, people were discussing Sid Bass leaving his wife, Anne Bass, for Mercedes Kellogg. At a Calvin Klein event, columnist Billy Norwich told the narrator that he had tried repeatedly to reach Mercedes in Paris for comment. When his calls went unanswered, he left a message claiming to be Mick Jagger; Mercedes returned the call almost immediately. The anecdote captures the press’s pursuit of the story and the way celebrity names could be used to get a response.

The diary also records a sharply judgmental reaction to the affair. In describing Bianca Jagger and Glenn Dubin’s breakup, the narrator speculated about Bianca’s romantic ambitions and invoked Sid Bass as someone she might have pursued. This passing reference places the Bass–Kellogg story within a wider stream of social comparison and romantic speculation, rather than offering independent information about how the couple’s relationship began.

Reporting and predictions

In October, the narrator read Steve Aronson’s article in New York magazine about the Sid Bass–Mercedes Kellogg affair and found it compelling for the amount of information it assembled. The article reportedly traced the romance day by day and included the story of Mercedes returning Billy Norwich’s call because she believed it came from Mick Jagger. A piece of private gossip had thus become an organized public narrative, with the earlier phone-call anecdote incorporated into a chronology.

The narrator predicted that Mercedes might not marry Sid, reasoning that his divorce could take two years. This was speculation, not a reported outcome: the diary supplies no confirmation that the prediction came true or that the couple married. The distinction matters because the story’s public momentum exceeds what the entries establish about its eventual course.

Effects on Anne Bass and the social circle

The relationship also affected where others chose to go. After an AIDS-related event, Jock explained that the group had skipped Indochine because Mercedes Kellogg and Sid Bass went there and Anne Bass did not want to run into them; the group went to Nell’s instead. The reported affair therefore appears not only in conversation and print but in a practical adjustment to social plans.

Across these entries, information travels through calls, parties, newspaper columns, magazine reporting, and decisions about where to dine. The diary documents the affair as a subject of public scrutiny and a source of tension for Anne Bass, while leaving the private relationship itself largely outside the narrator’s direct knowledge.