Nicole Avant with husband Ted Sarandos and dad Clarence celebrating New Year’s Day 2022 with Gwyneth Paltrow, Brad Falchuk and Laura Dern.Photo:Courtesy of Nicole Avant
Courtesy of Nicole Avant
Nicole Avantremembers talking to one of her closest friends, hours after hermom Jacqueline was killedfollowing a Beverly Hills home invasion. Words tumbled out of her mouth that December 2021 morning. Nicole, 55, says, “I said, ‘I have to call my aunt. I’m fine. I have to call everybody.’”
After she handed the phone to her husband,Netflix’sco-CEO Ted Sarandos, the friend on the other end of the line said, “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. I’m on my way. I need to come see her.“
The friend wasGwyneth Paltrowwho, along with some of Nicole’s closest confidantes, rallied around the Avant family to offer support after the unthinkable news that the 81-year-old matriarch had been murdered.
Jacqueline Avant, Nicole Avant and Clarence Avant.Eric Charbonneau/Shutterstock
Eric Charbonneau/Shutterstock
Within hours of the news breaking celebs and politicians alike publicly mourned Nicole’s mom Jacqueline.Tyler Perryvowed on X (then known as Twitter) that“every available resource” would be usedto find the person responsible.
Former presidentBill Clintonremembered the wife of music executive Clarence Avant as “a wonderful woman” and “dear friend.” MeanwhileOprah Winfreywrote that she was “numbed and in shock.”
Now, nearly two years later, Nicole is revealing exactly how far some of her friends supported her in her hour of need.
“My dad always said, ‘I don’t have problems. I have friends.’ And now I know what he meant when he said that because I lived it,” the former U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas tells PEOPLE. “Because, without my friends showing up without me having to ask them to, I really don’t know if I’d be sitting here the way I am.”
Nicole with her brother Alex, mom Jacqueline and boxer Muhammad Ali in Los Angeles 1992.Courtesy of Nicole Avant
It is no surprise that Nicole can count A-listers and former U.S. presidents among her friends. Her dad Clarence, whodied in August aged 92, was a legendary music executive, film producer and the subject of the Netflix documentary,The Black Godfather.Quincy Jonesis her godfather and entertainers likesinger Bill Withersandrecord producer Jerry Mosswere family friends.
But, as she writes in her new book,Think You’ll Be Happy: Moving Through Grief with Grit, Grace, and Gratitude, Gwyneth, 51, actressLaura Dernand philanthropist Irena Medavoy were part of a core circle of friends who provided practical and emotional support. The Goop founder was a constant presence.
In her new book ‘Think You’ll Be Happy,’ Nicole reveals how her friends comforted her after her mom’s death.
“The beauty of Gwyneth, all my girlfriends, but especially her, is from that [first] day, she controlled everything. She controlled everyone and everything,” says Nicole, who adds that others would call the Oscar winner to find out when they could visit the family and what they should bring.
“I remember one day walking downstairs and I said, ‘Gwyneth, you really need to go back and run your company.’ And she looked at me and she had her laptop out. She was like, ‘I got it,’” Nicole says. If Gwyneth played overall air traffic controller, Irena focused on the food. “No one even called her. I think she heard it on the news,” says Nicole of her distraught friend who showed up willing to help.
Jacqueline Avant posing during her 80th birthday party in 2020.Courtesy of Stefanie Keenan
Courtesy of Stefanie Keenan
The support was not just practical, it was emotional too. As Nicole describes in her book, when Paltrow arrived at her home that December morning the actress was concerned that she wasn’t processing the reality, that her mother had been shot and killed. Nicole says, “I’ll never forget she walked me [outside] to the grass and said, ‘Let’s get grounded here. Do you understand what happened?’ “
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That emotional support continued long after the initial period of mourning. That first New Year’s Day after Jacqueline’s death, Paltrow invited Nicole, Ted and Clarence to celebrate with her family, including husband,Brad Falchuk, in Montecito, Calif. “She said, ‘Bring Clarence over. I’m making brunch.’ And he was in a new space with new smells, just newness. She was trying to give him a sense of newness,” the author remembers.
“Gwyneth and my father developed this beautiful bond. She cooked for him. She would come to visit and just sit with him,” Nicole says. “He loved her strength, her wit, her grace. I think she reminded him a little bit of Jacquie in lots of ways. But she was unbelievable in the way she showed up because it wasn’t just for me.”
Think You’ll Be Happy: Moving Through Grief With Grit, Grace and Gratitudewill be published on Oct. 17.
source: people.com
