Have you heard of Atila Altaunbay? This man was once Grace Jones’s bodyguard, but things went in the romantic direction almost too quickly. His family disapproved of it, so he went with it anyway, and things didn’t end well for him.
So, what happened? Here’s what we know.
Atila Altaunbay Early Life
Atila Altaunbay was born in Turkey in 1976. He spent his early years there before moving to Belgium, where he lived for much of his adult life.
Almost nothing else is known about him, as he only gained public attention when he married Grace Jones. However, this marriage had so many red flags going on that it was pretty surprising that it lasted eight years.
How Did Altaunbay and Grace Meet?
Atila Altaunbay and Grace Jones first met in the late 1980s when Altaunbay was hired as her bodyguard at a club in Belgium. At the time, Grace Jones was already an established global superstar known for her music and modeling career.
Their professional relationship quickly developed into a romantic one, and after spending time together, Jones proposed to Altaunbay during a trip to Rio de Janeiro for Carnival in the early 1990s.
The Complications
Grace Jones and her husband, Atila Altaunbay, attend the ‘Made In Italy’ awards ceremony at Cipriani, 42nd Street, New York City, 2000.
So far so good, right? Here’s when things went quite…odd.
For starters, Atila Altaunbay was from a Muslim family. In the Muslim faith, no man or woman is allowed to marry someone from a different religion. Grace wasn’t a Muslim, so things started getting complicated, as his family disapproved of this marriage.
To complicate things more, Grace was raised in a Pentecostal Christian household in Jamaica, where her father was a strict preacher. Many Christian denominations discourage interfaith marriages, and her strict father was initially against the idea as well.
Still, Altaunbay went with it anyway, and after struggling for six years, they finally managed to make the marriage official in 1996. The ceremony was held in a private home and made official by Presbyterian minister Rubens Pires.
The marriage raised a few eyebrows as the pair had a clear age gap. It wasn’t long before the media found out that Jones was almost twice the age of Altaunbay. Needless to say, the happy couple made a few headlines.
Sadly, that was only the start of a series of unfortunate events.
When the marriage was made official, Atila Altaunbay was disobeyed by his family. They no longer wanted him to come back or contact them. Grace did try to make it private to avoid that, but it’s the internet world. People will eventually end up knowing, and that’s what happened.
It Gets Worse
It usually doesn’t get much worse than being disobeyed by your family, but in Altaunbay’s case, it did. Their marriage was declared invalid because, wait for it, their priest during the marriage was homosexual.
They had to do the whole thing repeatedly, but Grace’s father officiated it this time.
It Gets Even Worse
Atila Altaunbay disappeared just like that. Their relationship started very well, as they defied all odds and did only what they wanted. However, Atila started getting overly jealous and territorial, which Grace couldn’t stomach for long.
She even mentioned at one point that Atila attacked her with a weapon when she was in the kitchen. That was towards the end of their relationship, as they broke up soon after in 2004, but they never finalized their divorce.
However, when Grace wanted to make the divorce official, she couldn’t find him. He disappeared.
It Ends With Death
In October 2021, Atila Altaunbay passed away at the age of 45. The exact cause of his death has not been publicly disclosed, leading to speculation and mystery surrounding the circumstances of his passing.
Helping Hands Belgium, an organization he was involved with, initially announced his death, expressing sorrow over its chairman’s loss.
There have been lingering questions about potential foul play, but no definitive information has emerged to clarify the situation. It simply remains a mystery, as no further evidence resurfaced.
Final Words
They say to do the right thing even if you’re the only one doing it. However, being the only person doing something doesn’t necessarily mean you’re right, which Atila Altaunbay has to learn the hard way.
We supposed that love was indeed blind to make him marry Grace regardless of all circumstances. However, what happened next? Where did he go? And how did he die?
To this day, nobody knows.
