Jeanine Pepler, publicist to Sex and the City author Candace Bushnell and novelist Jay McInerney, has died, a friend confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. She was reportedly 50 years old.
Pepler reportedly died of suicide at her home in Sag Harbor, Long Island.
She was born in Cape Town, South Africa, where she earned an honors degree in English from Cape Town University. Pepler moved to New York in 1996 and began a career in publicity. She also represented ex-Cosmopolitan editor Kate White on a book.
Bushnell was Pepler’s best friend, in addition to being one of her primary clients. Pepler dated McInerney for a time. The author proposed to her, but she declined, though they remained close friends and she continued to represent him.
In 2004, Pepler was diagnosed with and had surgery for thyroid cancer.
She moved to Sag Harbor a few years ago, where she ran her own boutique agency, AKA Life, which was launched in 2005.
