I know the actor who wears noise-canceling headphones during sex. This A-lister is a member of a cult. And a certain pop star is secretly engaged.
These are just some of the far-fetched ‘blind items’ that have been published by notorious celebrity gossip Instagram DeuxMoi.
For the uninitiated, think of it as the real-life Gossip Girl – an anonymous account that publishes Tinseltown tittle-tattle, sent in by sources and followers, who now number over 2.1 million.
But for all the celebrity scandals and intrigue that have, in little over five years, catapulted DeuxMoi to a feared status in Hollywood circles, the juiciest and – until now – unsolved mystery has always been the true identity of the gossipmonger behind the Instagram.
And that’s for good reason. Anonymity has surely been the key ingredient to DeuxMoi’s mystique and success.
After all, how mad can a celebrity get at a faceless social media account which carries the clever disclaimer: ‘This website does not claim information published is based in fact.’
But now, in a world exclusive, the Daily Mail can unmask Melissa Lovallo, a 50-year-old former Ralph Lauren executive, as the woman behind DeuxMoi.
Lovallo, who lives in Manhattan’s swanky Financial District, originally launched DeuxMoi as an online blog in 2013, alongside her friend and Ralph Lauren colleague Meggie Kempner, 37.
Then, DeuxMoi – which translates to the nonsense phrase ‘two me’ in French – started life as a forum for all things fashion, beauty and ‘other cool s***,’ an archived page for the now-defunct site reads.
Kempner, granddaughter of the late socialite and Yves Saint Laurent muse Nan Kempner, has reportedly not been involved with DeuxMoi since the website – which failed to make any lasting impact – became inactive in July 2015.
It wasn’t until Covid lockdown in March 2020 that Lovallo, suddenly forced to while away her days inside her $3,695-a-month apartment, decide to re-activate DeuxMoi’s old Instagram account.
To entertain herself, Lovallo – who at the time was working as the head of women’s and children’s styling at Ralph Lauren – posted a question to DeuxMoi’s 45,000 Instagram followers: ‘Celeb stories (first or second hand) you are willing to share?’
At first, the gossip that DeuxMoi solicited from her followers was as innocent as it was inane, be it Jennifer Aniston’s preferred coffee order or Jennifer Lopez’s choice of pasta at New York hotspot Carbone.
But by the end of 2020, DeuxMoi had over 500,000 followers.
Unsurprisingly, Lovallo’s unfiltered celebrity gossip had also attracted a few enemies in Hollywood – some of whom have tried, unsuccessfully, to out her identity.
The Daily Mail made multiple attempts to contact Lovallo through her lawyer, who just so happens to be Real Housewives Of New York City star Abe Lichy, but no response was forthcoming.
The same can’t be said for Lovallo’s family.
When approached at the New Jersey home he shares with his wife, Joseph Lovallo, 78, appeared to confirm that his daughter is the brains behind DeuxMoi.
‘She still wants the anonymity even though it’s out there. That’s what she wants, that’s the way she wants it,’ he said.
In a likely nod to Lovallo’s professional ties to the high-end fashion scene, we noticed empty Louis Vuitton and Coach-branded packaging outside her parents’ 2,342 square-foot home for recycling.
As for whether his daughter still works at Ralph Lauren, Joseph replied: ‘No.’ Representatives for Ralph Lauren did not respond to requests for comment.
It seems that Lovallo has gone to great lengths to maintain her privacy.
When sitting for interviews, she turns off her camera and has even digitally altered her voice. Journalists who meet her must agree to keep her unnamed, only ever identifying her as a woman living in New York City.
And it’s almost impossible to find any evidence of her online – which is surprising considering that, while at Ralph Lauren, her schedule was no doubt filled with ritzy fashion industry events replete with photographers.
That said, the Daily Mail has unearthed and verified a handful of photos of Lovallo, seen in this article. In several, she appears alongside her former business partner Kempner.
DeuxMoi was almost unmasked once before – by none other than Hailey Bieber, who discovered Lovallo’s identity in 2020 after she and husband Justin Bieber had been the subject of gossip posted by Lovallo.
‘Today I figured out I know who runs the DeuxMoi Instagram account and I must say, A. I feel like I should work for the FBI and B. I feel like I just figured out who Gossip Girl is,’ Hailey wrote on her Instagram that December.
The model stopped short of outing Lovallo by name.
With more than two million followers on Instagram, it is likely that DeuxMoi has become a lucrative business.
Lovallo has a DeuxMoi Substack for which she charges subscribers $5 a month for exclusive content. The site ranks the page as their 54th ‘bestseller’.
The DeuxMoi Instagram account, meanwhile, regularly features sponsored posts for huge brands such Hulu, LiquidIV, Netflix and Naked smoothies.
And, in potential proof of her high earnings, Lovallo also shares exclusive paparazzi shots of celebrities. Similar sets of images are often sold by photo agencies to major media outlets for five-figure sums.
Lovallo also sells DeuxMoi-branded merchandise, with prices ranging from $25 for a hat to $130 for a sweatshirt emblazoned with the phrase ‘Anon Pls’.
Anon Pls was the title of DeuxMoi’s debut novel published in November 2022.
The book appears to be more fact than fiction, however, with the plot following a ‘Cricket Lopez’, an assistant to a notorious celebrity stylist who revamps her style-focused Instagram account and turns it into a celebrity gossip blog.
Before Anon Pls even hit bookshelves, it was announced that Warner Bros Television was turning the novel into a TV series for HBO Max.
Variety reported in 2023 that a script was underway, though there have been no updates about the series since.
All of which is likely testament to Lovallo’s savviness.
But for exactly how long did she expect to keep her identity hidden? After all, she should know best that not all secrets last forever.
