Iman said it was “too much” trying to find space to grieve over David Bowie.
The 67-year-old model, left devastated by the musician’s passing aged 69 in 2016 from liver cancer after their 24-year marriage, said she fled their home in New York at one point as fans constantly crowded the front door.
Mum-of-two Iman told the new issue of Vogue magazine: “It was too much. Too much. We lived a very private life and suddenly it felt like there was a target on mine and my daughter’s head.
“It got to the point where we had to leave our home (in New York City) because the public were always at the front door.
“Which I admire. I get it. But there was a point where it was like, ‘OK, go home now’.
“You had people who would take your picture, sell it and then come to you and say, ‘I feel your pain’.
“And, I’m like, ‘No, b****, you don’t feel my pain, get away from me’.”
Iman has previously said she refuses to call David her “late husband”, and stressed to Vogue: “He is not my ‘late husband’. He is my husband.
“I don’t mind at all being referred to as ‘David Bowie’s wife’. But I always remind people that I existed before I met him.
“And he was also very particular. He never introduced me by saying, ‘Meet my wife’.
“He’d always say, ‘Meet Iman, my wife’.
“So we both already had our own identity. We were separate but together.”
Iman has daughter Zulekha, 44, with her ex-husband Spencer Haywood, 73, and Alexandria, 22, who she had with David in August 2000.
She said about her future plans: “I think of myself now as a mom and grandma first… that’s my place in life.”
Iman also told Vogue of her worries racism is still rife, including in the beauty industry, adding: “Look at what is happening across Europe, in America. We are seeing the rise of white supremacy reverberating across all industries.
“People are starting to feel like, ‘We’ve done enough.’ As if we are a charity. Don’t give me a handout, because that in itself is a racist act.
“The reason a lot of (racist) things are happening in our industry is because there is nobody (non-white) in decision-making positions. These people exist. So this idea that we are asking for a seat at the table... I’m done with the seat at the table. Let’s just dismantle the whole table.”
The full feature with Iman is available in the January issue of British Vogue, available via digital download and on newsstands from Tuesday 20 December.
