Mary-Kate Olsen is speaking up about dropping out.
The mini-mogul said in an interview with W magazine that her split from Greek shipping heir Stavros Niarchos, and his subsequent coupling with Paris Hilton, was the primary reason for her recent leave of absence from New York University.
"I miss him and I love him, and I don't speak with him anymore," the 19-year-old told the fashion magazine. "It's a hurtful and painful subject. I've pretty much been with someone my whole life, so this is a hard time for me."
When asked by the magazine if there was a specific incident that made her want to take the temporary break from her studies, Olsen replied, "I think we can all guess."Olsen, who was previously linked with David Katzenberg, the son of DreamWorks partner Jeffrey Katzenberg, admits that she was the one who first introduced her ex to the hotel heiress, now an avowed nemesis.
"[Paris and I] always only had nice things to say about each other," Olsen said. "Now I guess you can tell we're not talking."
In terms of higher education, Olsen, and her reps, insist that the leave of absence is a purely temporary one, and that the former Full House star will either return to NYU, where twin Ashley still attends, or transfer to a West Coast university.
"You know, [college] is easier for my sister and that's great, you know? I'm happy that I kind of realized that, okay, I just need to take care of myself right now," Olsen said. "I need to be able to go to yoga and work out and just read scripts and go on auditions, because that's what makes me happy...Like, papers don't really make me happy."
When Mary-Kate Olsen first announced she was taking an approved absence from NYU in October, there was no mention of the breakup. Instead, her rep, Michael Pagnotta, claimed Olsen was going "to devote more of her time and energy to her business."
The Olsens serve as copresidents of their billion-dollar enterprise, Dualstar Entertainment. Each twin is worth a reported $150 million.
In the meantime, although Mary-Kate is keeping busy with auditions in L.A., she has refuted reports that she will star as the late artist Brigid Berlin in the film Factory Girl, a biopic starring Sienna Miller as Andy Warhol protege Edie Sedgwick.
