Source: The Washington Post / Getty
Last year, The Washington Post, wrote about B. Smith’s fight with Alzheimer’s, told mostly through the lens of her husband Dan Gasby.
Gasby, in full transparency, shared that in caring for Smith, full time, along with his daughter, he was also dating another woman. Alexandra Learner.
While Learner never lived with Gasby and Smith, she did spend time there and, according to Gasby, had a great relationship with Smith, even shared in the responsibility of her care at times.
As you can imagine, the sight of a married man dating another woman—and for Black women, a white woman at that, was hard to stomach. People argued that Gasby shouldn’t be dating at all—no matter what mental state his wife was in. Some felt that a relationship was fine but Learner should not have been in Smith’s home.
It was a lot to discuss.
Now, months after B. Smith’s death this past February, Gasby confirmed in an interview that his relationship with Learner has expired.
In an interview with Jean Shafiroff of “Successful Philanthropy with host Jean Shafiroff,”Gasby took the time to clear up some misconceptions and speak briefly about his breakup with Learner.
Jean Shafiroff: You had a relationshiwp with a woman while you were living with your wife. And I understand this woman, Alex Learner, moved into your…
Dan Gasby: No. She never lived there. That was an angry woman—there was a room where she could stay and put stuff if she wanted to put stuff. But the press and because of the racial situation, the press and certain people had a field day with that. My wife dated white men, Asian men. I dated white, Black, whatever. Some people are not comfortable with that. But Alex Learner never lived at my house. She was there on weekends, twice a month.
And I’d go into town and stay at her place on occasion.
But it was such a hot topic for people who deal in salaciousness. But no, she never lived in there. She never.
She was very kind to B. when she was there. B. was lovely, even through Alzheimer’s.
Me and my daughter still laugh at it, they have a tendency—some people are really violent or really mean. When she got mad, she would just make up words because she couldn’t figure out how to say curse words. And we would just laugh. And she would start laughing.
Her spirit and her soul was always…amazing.
Jean Shafiroff: Are you and Alex together any more?
Dan Gasby: No, she took off and you know, whatever. I wish her well. Life has a way of—whatever you deserve you’ll ultimately get and that’s fine.
You can watch the full interview in the video below. The comments about Learner began around the 17:20 mark.
