The famously private Mary-Kate Olsen kicked off the summer season with an ultra-rare public outing in the Hamptons.
Olsen, 38, was spotted walking in the New York suburb on Tuesday, May 20, in photos obtained by Us Weekly. The actress-turned-designer dressed casually in a long black peacoat over wide-legged mauve trousers. She carried an armful of handbags and wore a pair of sunglasses to cover her eyes.
Mary-Kate and her twin sister, Ashley Olsen, have been household names since 1987 when they were both cast as baby Michelle Tanner on Full House. After eight seasons playing the pint-sized Tanner tyke, the Olsens launched their own direct-to-VHS empire and starred in a slew of beloved movies and TV shows, including Billboard Dad, Passport to Paris, Holiday in the Sun and So Little Time that made them a financial fortune.
As Mary-Kate and Ashley, also 38, grew up, they turned from entertainment to fashion, launching high-end, successful sartorial brands such as The Row and Elizabeth & James. While their careers continued to thrive, the twins kept much of their private life under wraps.
“We were raised to be discreet people,” Mary-Kate told i-D magazine in a rare joint interview published in June 2021.
At the time, Ashley also divulged why they often collaborate on professional projects.
“We like working together, and we like having that dialogue. I think it helps harden your ideas to be able to hear them out loud, to speak something through,” Ashley explained to the outlet. “You know, we definitely go by intuition and instinct and it can either confirm that feeling, or if we’re both not feeling right about something, for some reason, we just don’t do it. Our instincts are kind of the same. But I think what’s great is that we have each other to lean on.”
Save for rare outings like Tuesday’s stroll, fans haven’t heard much from either Mary-Kate or Ashley.
“Being in the spotlight as little kids really seems to have impacted how Mary-Kate and Ashley live their adult lives,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly for a July 2024 cover story.
A second source, meanwhile, told Us that Mary-Kate, in particular, sought solace after her 2020 divorce from Olivier Sarkozy. (The former child star and Sarkozy, 55, were married for nearly five years.)
“She felt hounded,” the second insider said at the time. “It was too much to handle.”
Now, Mary-Kate often spends her time in the Hamptons, Los Angeles and Europe, while Ashley is primarily based in New York with husband Louis Eisner and their son, Otto, who was born in 2023.
“They’re homebodies who would rather go over line sheets for The Row than be out on the town,” the first source added to Us. “And they’re extremely cautious of who they let in and what they divulge in public.”
