Real-life Wolf of Wall Street’s ex-wife says all she was left with ‘nothing’ following divorce

The real-life Wolf of Wall Street Jordan Belfort’s ex-wife has revealed that she ‘walked away from their marriage with absolutely nothing’ – after she was asked to turn over all of her valuables to the government following his arrest.

Nadine Macaluso, 54, who is now a marriage counselor and family therapist in California, met Belfort at one of his parties in the Hamptons when she was 22 years old and working as a model. 

The two soon became engulfed in a whirlwind romance, tying the knot in 1991 and welcoming two children together, before they ultimately divorced in 2005 after 14 years of marriage.

And according to the 54-year-old, when she decided to split from the financial crook, all she was left with was her ‘curtains’ – but she said she was happy to give up her life of luxury since it all came from Belfort’s ‘blood money.’

Nadine Macaluso, 54, who is now a marriage counselor and family therapist in California, met Belfort at one of his parties in the Hamptons when she was 22 years old and working as a model

The two tied the knot in 1991 and welcomed two children together, before they divorced in 2005, and after the marriage ended, Macaluso accused him of physical and mental abuse

Now, she has revealed that all she was left with was her ‘curtains’ after the split – but added that she said she was happy to give up her life of luxury since it came from Belfort’s ‘blood money’

Belfort spent 22 months in prison after it was brought to light that he had scammed more than 1,500 people out of thousands of dollars through an elaborate stockbroker scheme in 1999 – all while he was married to Macaluso.

The former model, who later accused Belfort of physical and mental abuse, has now opened up about her tumultuous marriage to the criminal in a series of videos posted to TikTok, and she explained that she finally felt safe enough to leave him following his arrest. 

Belfort spent 22 months in prison after it was brought to light that he had scammed more than 1,500 people out of thousands of dollars through an elaborate stockbroker scheme in 1999 – all while he was married to Macaluso. They are pictured at their wedding in 1991 

She added that as soon as his financial wrongdoings came to the surface, she no longer wanted the lavish things that he had purchased her. 

‘I asked him for a divorce [after the arrest] because I knew I could finally be safe because he had an ankle bracelet,’ she said in the video, which has now been watched more than 357,000 times.

‘Jordan was all about making money. However, right when he got arrested, I completely understood that it was all blood money. 

‘I walked away from my marriage with absolutely nothing. I always joke and I say I just took my kids and my curtains. 

‘I gave all the jewelry that I had to the government. We gave up all of our homes, all of our money. 

‘And that was the right thing to do. It was fine to walk away with nothing and it feels really good to say that.’

Belfort and Macaluso’s first interaction was showcased in the 2013 movie about his life, entitled The Wolf of Wall Street – which starred Leonardo DiCaprio as Belfort and Margot Robbie as Macaluso (who was called Naomi in the flick), as well as Jonah Hill, Kyle Chandler, Rob Reiner, Jon Bernthal, and Matthew McConaughey.  

Speaking out: The former model opened up about their tumultuous marriage in a series of TikTok videos, and she explained that she finally felt safe enough to leave him after his arrest

New life: She added that as soon as his financial wrongdoings came to the surface, she no longer wanted the lavish things that he had purchased her

In the flick, the two were seen being introduced by mutual friends at a party, after Belfort and his friends took a sedative called Quaalude. 

But when Belfort attempted to talk to his future-wife, his actions were overshadowed after his pal Donnie Azoff, who was played by Hill and was based on real-life stockbroker Danny Porush, unzipped his pants and started to touch himself – and Macaluso insisted that’s how it really went down. 

‘So you guys have been asking, “How did you meet [Belfort], the Wolf of Wall Street?” Well it’s actually pretty similar to the movie,’ she explained in a previous TikTok. 

‘I was 22 years old and modeling, my boyfriend at the time said, “Do you want to go to the party in West Hampton at a house on the beach?” I was like, “Sure.” 

‘We pulled up and I remember walking into the house. There were all these people and they were acting really weird. Little did I know, they were all Quaalude-d out, I had no idea.

‘They were all there with their wives but they were making lewd and weird comments. 

‘That scene where someone exposes himself to me was true. I actually got terrified by that. I’m 22 and I said to my boyfriend at the time, “We have to leave this party,” and we left right away.’

Macaluso did not confirm who the person was who exposed themselves to her; While Hill’s character in the movie was said to be loosely based on Porush, he has previously insisted that the fictitious version in the film ‘is not him’ and that he never engaged in many of the antics portrayed on screen. 

In another TikTok, Macaluso claimed that Belfort – who was married to his high school sweetheart, Denise Lombardo, at the time – became ‘obsessed’ with her following their first meeting. 

Belfort and Macaluso’s story was showcased in the 2013 movie about his life, entitled The Wolf of Wall Street – which starred Leonardo DiCaprio as Belfort and Margot Robbie as Macaluso

According to the mom-of-two, the X-rated moment in the film, in which Jonah Hill’s (pictured) character, Donnie Azoff, exposed himself to her and began to pleasure himself was totally real

In another TikTok, Macaluso claimed that Belfort – who was married to his high school sweetheart, Denise Lombardo, at the time – became ‘obsessed’ with her after they first met

‘After he met me he became totally obsessed with me,’ she revealed. ‘He had a white [Ferrari] Testarossa with this huge muffler, and it was so loud. 

‘I’d hear him when I had my Hamptons house driving by my house all the time. People say he was looking for me ever since he met me.’ 

In the comment section of the video, a viewer asked Macaluso, ‘Wait, so he stalked you?’ to which she replied, ‘Yes, totally.’

Someone else said they ‘couldn’t decide’ if it was ‘romantic or scary,’ and she answered, ‘Both.’

‘Oh man, that was definitely a first red flag,’ wrote another user, and Macaluso agreed, writing, ‘Truth.’

In a fourth video, she spoke further about how their romance formed, and she said Belfort once bribed her friend with $15,000 to set them up on the date.

‘What happened was that – a mutual friend of ours, he reached out to her and said, “You have to get Nadine to meet me on a date.” He said to her, “I will make you $15,000 in stock,”‘ she recalled.

‘So this woman kept calling and calling and calling me. I was like, “Why is this woman calling me to go out?”

‘So finally I said yes, and she said, “Oh by the way, that guy Jordan is gonna come.” And I was like, “Why is he coming?”

Macaluso recalled thinking it was ‘a little weird’ especially because he was married, but she agreed to go – adding that she had no idea that it was meant to be a date.

She continued: ‘So sure enough, she picked me up and we went to this place Mezzaluna in Manhattan, he pulls up in his Testarossa wearing his cowboy boots and saunters over to the table and we just started talking.

Opening up: She claimed that he’d drive by her home in the hopes of seeing her, something she now calls a major ‘red flag’

In the comment section, a viewer asked Macaluso, ‘Wait, so he stalked you?’ to which she replied, ‘Yes, totally’

Someone else said they ‘couldn’t decide’ if it was ‘romantic or scary,’ and she answered, ‘Both’

‘Oh man, that was definitely a first red flag,’ wrote another user, and Macaluso agreed, writing, ‘Truth’

‘And we had an amazing conversation because he was from Queens, I was from Brooklyn. We knew a lot of the same mutual people. I had no idea it was a setup. None.’

Belfort drove her home and the next day, just like in the movie, she said she came home to hundreds of flowers filling her house.

The mother-of-two added that she was ‘very confused’ about his marital status because he ‘told her he was separated from his wife.’

‘Looking back at it as a 54-year-old woman, I should have been a lot more inquisitive and really figured out exactly what his marital status was and not just simply believed him,’ she added.

While Macaluso said some things that happened in the movie were real – like Azoff’s exposé – she admitted that ‘a lot of it wasn’t exactly true.’ 

‘I think if you look at it through [Belfort’s] lens it was really accurate, but if you look at it through my lens, it wasn’t,’ she explained in a different video. ‘That makes sense because that was actually how our marriage was.’

The marriage counselor added that it was ‘not fun’ to have a movie ‘made about her life,’ but that she is now ‘ready to share her side of the story.’

‘I’m ready to share my side of the story and the wisdom I’ve learned along the way,’ she stated.

‘I am very ready now to tell my truth on exactly what happened through my experience, my narrative, and my lens as a mother, wife, daughter, daughter-in-law, and most importantly a therapist and educated woman.’

She told her followers to ‘hold on tight’ because she has ‘a lot of great things to expose.’

In a fourth video, she said Belfort (seen left in the movie and right in real life in 2018) once bribed her friend with $15,000 to set them up on the date

Macaluso added that it was ‘not fun’ to have a movie ‘made about her life,’ but that she is now ‘ready to share her side of the story.’ She is seen left in the movie and right in real life 

She told her followers to ‘hold on tight’ because she has ‘a lot of great things to expose’ 

The mom-of-two also told her followers that Martin Scorsese’s office called her before production kicked off and asked if she would meet with Robbie so that the actress could learn how to speak like her.

She agreed to help, and flew to New York, where she went out to dinner with the movie star.

‘She was 22, she was adorable, so sweet,’ she recalled. ‘In the middle of dinner she said to me, “I’m really scared of being naked and all the sex scenes.”

‘I said, “That’s it right there. That fear that you feel about speaking your truth to powerful men, embody that and you’ll do a great job.” And you know what? She did, she was fantastic.’

On the video streaming platform, Macaluso also reflected on the ‘many signs’ she ‘ignored’ during her relationship with Belfort. 

‘In the beginning of my relationship, whenever I would express a need or a desire or value that I wanted to hold a boundary with, he plowed through it,’ she revealed.

‘When I didn’t want to have kids, he was like, “If you don’t have kids I’m not gonna marry you.” 

‘When I wasn’t ready to get married he said to me, “If you’re not gonna marry me I’m not gonna date you.” He would not allow me to hold a boundary.’

After they split, Macaluso accused Belfort of domestic violence, which she said was fueled by his drug addiction and infidelity 

Macaluso has since remarried; she has been with her new husband, John Macaluso, who has three kids from a past relationship, for 22 years now 

As for her and Belfort, she said they’re ‘still friends’ and are focused on co-parenting their two kids

After they split, Macaluso accused Belfort of domestic violence, which she said was fueled by his drug addiction and infidelity. 

‘[Belfort] was abusive – emotionally and verbally abusive,’ she told DailyMail.com in a 2020 interview, adding that his drug use ‘ramped up’ his ‘viciousness and cruelty.’ 

On TikTok, she said he had an ‘extreme temper’ from the start – which she admitted she ‘didn’t know how to deal with.’ 

‘I grew up with a single mom and I didn’t grow up with a lot of yelling in my home,’ she told her followers. 

‘So when he first started to yell at me, I was really shocked and taken aback. I didn’t know how to deal with it.’

Macaluso has since remarried; she has been with her new husband, John Macaluso, who has three kids from a past relationship, for 22 years now. 

As for her and Belfort, she said they’re ‘still friends’ and are focused on co-parenting their two kids.

‘We’re both strong personalities, but at the end of the day, we both love our children and he gets along great with my [new] husband,’ she revealed.