Woof.
José Castelo Branco — the gender-fluid Portuguese socialite whose tautened face bears a striking resemblance to Kris Jenner — raised looser eyebrows at elite members-only club Maxime’s costume party this weekend. And not merely because he arrived leading a “human dog” around on a leash.
Branco, 63 — who identifies as “he” (but also told us we could refer to him as “she” if we preferred) wears women’s clothes and make-up — is currently on trial in Portugal for domestic violence against his estranged wife, diamond heiress Lady Betty Grafstein, 97.
A guest at the 1930s themed bash, which also drew upper-crusters like designer Stacey Bendet, Jill Kargman, Candace Bushnell, Ann Dexter-Jones and Alexandra Michler Kopelman, tells us that seeing Branco and his costumed companion was “weird as f*ck.”
“[Branco] was greeting people at the front with a leashed human dressed as a dog,” the source says. “A large white, curly short-haired dog. They were kneeling on a dog bed. [The person was] fully covered — you couldn’t see their face.”
Like a mascot head? “Yes.” And we hear there was also a red bejeweled dog house that would put Snoopy’s to shame.
Page Six previously reported that Branco — a veteran of the fashion scene and star of a number of reality shows including one called “Lost in the Tribe” in which he went to live in the Namibian bush — was arrested and thrown in jail in Portugal in April 2024 after Grafstein, who was in a wheelchair at that point, wound up in the hospital alleging that Branco had pushed her and caused her to fall.
According to local reports, Grafstein was in the hospital for 45 days with injuries to her forearm, bruising to her hip and leg, and a fractured pelvis.
Grafstein was married to Albert Grafstein — who ran Grafstein Diamond Corp. with his brother — in the 1960s.
She married Branco, an avant-garde personality from Mozambique, in 1996. It was her third marriage.
The odd couple gained a number of fans on social media documenting their outlandish lifestyle of parties, galas, Chanel clothing and Birkin bags, plastic surgery and an opulently appointed apartment.
A lawyer for Grafstein, Alexandre Guerreiro, tells us that they will be in court on Oct. 7 for divorce proceedings.
The trial against Branco for domestic violence started in June and reconvened after a summer break on Sept. 22.
On September 29, Grafstein testified by videolink from the United States in Cascais Court, alleging to the judge that Branco, “assaulted me so many times.” “I was punched everywhere. It happened so many times and for so many years that I don’t know any more,” she said, according to local reports.
The alleged assaults also included punching, pushing, and strangulation.
Branco previously denied the allegations. He has not admitted anything in court.
He told us that he cannot comment on the case because it is still ongoing, but said: “My silence is bold.”
When it comes to maintaining a presence on the party scene, he tells us “I am not hiding.”
He is active on social media, posting from around the city and shilling for a dentist. A week ago he posted an old video of him and Grafstein dancing, saying, “Found this lovely video today in my gallery… missing my love so much.”
The couple were the subject of a long Vanity Fair profile titled “The Twisted True Love Story of Lady Betty Grafstein and José Castelo Branco.”
Grafstein’s son Roger Basile claimed in the piece that his mother is “penniless” and that her titled actually came from an Irish PR adviser and diplomatic consultant named Anthony Bailey, and not Queen Elizabeth.
Basile also claims in VF that he first learned of domestic abuse in the late 1990s claiming “she was black-and-blue, from her buttocks to her neck, where José knocked her down and kept kicking her on the ground.”
Branco denied the allegations.
Grafstein’s lawyer tells us: “In 2024, at the age of 95, her life was at risk – as confirmed by the doctor who treated her in Portugal – and the support of everyone around her, together with the assurance that José would never see her again, gave her the strength to put an end to the abuse.”
