Martin Shkreli's 'girlfriend' now says she's open to dating others, rather than waiting

Christie Smythe, the former Bloomberg News reporter who blew up her marriage and her career for a relationship with imprisoned "pharma bro" Martin Shkreli, told the New York Post Monday night that she's now open to dating others.

Wait, what?

This is the same person who said in a viral Elle article published Sunday that she was going to wait for former drug exec Shkreli, even after he curtly dismissed her in recent weeks via a message from his lawyers. He's currently serving a seven-year federal sentence for securities fraud and was charged earlier this year with antitrust violations related to alleged price-gouging on a lifesaving drug.

“Mr. Shkreli wishes Ms. Smythe the best of luck in her future endeavors," he said recently via the journalist who told Smythe's story in Elle. The message from his attorneys came after he had cut off communication with Smythe after he learned she was going public with their relationship history.

“He bounces between this delight in having a future life together and this fatalism about how it will never work. It’s definitely in the latter category now,” Smythe replied in the article, where she was described as "tearing up" after hearing the message. She said then that she would try to wait for him.

But on Monday night, she told the New York Post, “That was a classic break-up-slash-if-you-fire-somebody kind of line. ... It was really heartbreaking and sad."

The Post tracked down Smythe, 38, while she was out walking her dog in New York City and asked whether she was ready to date other guys. She hasn't seen Shkreli in person in more than a year, in part because of COVID-19 restrictions at prisons.

“I’m definitely open to it," she said. “I have been basically celibate for two years. I’m not going to sit around and wait.”

Unless, she said, Shkreli wound up being open to some sort of relationship down the line. She said she still loves him.

"I’d be interested in seeing if we can make some kind of future work, if that’s what he wants to do," Smythe said.

Shkreli, who is 37 and serving out his prison sentence in Allenwood, Pa., will be eligible for release in September 2023.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.