Kim Alexis is speaking out about the cocaine-fueled excess and sexual danger that permeated the modeling world at the height of her fame.
The former supermodel, 66, who appeared on the covers of Sports Illustrated, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, Self and Cosmopolitan, said in an exclusive interview that she witnessed unnamed celebrities “overdosed on drugs and just zoned out” during the era when Studio 54 defined New York nightlife. Alexis said she tried to avoid the legendary disco club even as friends pressed her to join them.
“People would say to me, ‘Come on, Kim, we want to go.’ I’m like, ‘I want to go to bed.’ And they’re like, ‘No, no, we need you to get in,'” she recalled.
Alexis acknowledged she was not entirely immune to the period’s drug culture. “I never felt I was thin enough, so I did do [cocaine] for a while, but got out of it,” she said. She replaced the habit with marathon running, completing eight races to prove her athletic credentials instead.
The former cover girl, who now hosts the “Unexpired” podcast, described the drug scene she observed as deeply unsettling. “It was scary and it was sad because you saw them as something else, and they were doing what they did there,” she added.
Alexis was discovered by the late modeling agent John Casablancas, who later faced sexual abuse allegations from a former model in a lawsuit that was dismissed; Casablancas denied the claims. Alexis maintained he never behaved inappropriately toward her. “He didn’t try anything with me,” she said. “People may think that I’m naive, but I saw him as a father figure. He was always kind and gentlemanly to me. He tried nothing ever with me.”
She attributed her ability to avoid harassment to a protective demeanor she projected instinctively. “I believe that I was put in a lot of situations and I had this weird innate thing, and I think guys understand it,” she explained. “Like if you approach me, I’m going to hit you… And so it was something that you kind of carry with you.”
“Like you turn around and you’re like, don’t even try it. And so that got me through a lot of things where it didn’t escalate to a bad point,” she continued.
Despite her success, Alexis said she never enjoyed the profession itself. “But it was hard work,” she explained. “People don’t know what you have to do behind the scenes. But for me, I just was not a big fashion person. I was a tomboy. I was used to swimming, and I was used to performance-based [work].” She conceded that some observers dismiss modeling as easy labor.
Alexis left the industry in her 20s, stepping away before the supermodel era of the 1990s brought astronomical paychecks to figures like Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista. She was married to former NHL player Ron Duguay, with whom she shares son Noah, and had two more sons, Jamie and Bobby, with ex-husband Jim Stockton.
The podcast host described “Unexpired” as her passion project, centered on personal transformation narratives. “I love hearing other people’s stories about: You started here, but you went here, and how did you get there? I’m finding there’s a lot of preparation, but there’s a lot people that are just willing to say, yes, I’ll try it,” she said.
She aims for her platform to serve a broader purpose. “I just believe that I’m trying to make the world a better place, and that’s my way to do it,” she added.
Alexis hopes her story will prove inspiring to listeners navigating their own career and life transitions.