Inside Their Love, Legacy & Life

John Branca has spent more than four decades as one of the most powerful dealmakers in the music business, most famously helping shape Michael Jackson’s empire. In 2026, that connection came full circle when “Michael” became the first biopic ever to top $1 billion.

Branca served as a producer on the Antoine Fuqua-directed hit, which stars Jaafar Jackson as his late uncle and features Miles Teller as Branca himself. The casting put his own history with the King of Pop front and center for a whole new generation of moviegoers. That newfound visibility has also drawn attention to the woman beside him through much of the film’s rollout: his wife, Kristina Tuckutė. 

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The Lithuanian model and beauty entrepreneur joined Branca on the red carpet for the Los Angeles premiere and was later at his side as he celebrated the movie’s record-setting run. But Tuckutė had built an international career of her own long before becoming Mrs. Branca. 

It all started in Klaipėda, the Baltic port city where Tuckutė grew up and, by her own account, dealt with bullying from classmates. She started modeling at 14 after a visit to a local agency, and castings soon turned into an invitation to Paris. She later recalled arriving there as a schoolgirl who spoke neither English nor French. 

Kristina Tuckutė Found Success In Milan But Warned Of Fashion’s Dangers

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The language barrier didn’t slow her down for long. Major Model president Guido Dolci brought her to Milan, where she learned Italian and landed work with luxury houses including Giorgio Armani, Roberto Cavalli and Blumarine, plus Gianfranco Ferré, La Perla and Wolford. She also spent several years as the face of Italian hosiery and lingerie label Levante, fronting its print and TV campaigns.

Tuckutė has never sugarcoated the industry that made her. During a 2013 appearance on the TV3 show “Gyvenimas yra gražus,” she urged the mothers of aspiring models not to rush blindly into fashion, calling it “sometimes a wild jungle with plenty of dangers and unwritten rules.” The same segment noted that she counted her young daughter, Sasha, as a far bigger achievement than anything she’d done on a runway.

Kristina Tuckutė Wanted ‘More’ Than Modeling And Built A Beauty Brand

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Modeling was never meant to be the whole story. Around the same time, Tuckutė was moving into the beauty business, telling Žmonės that she didn’t want her career to depend on her appearance alone. “I want more,” she said. 

Eventually, “more” turned into OHM by Kristina Tuckutė, a skincare line she spent over three years developing. Its 2021 launch at Flying Solo in SoHo drew figures from New York’s fashion, art and business circles, along with Lithuanian influencers like Karolina Meschino and Naglis Bierancas, who flew in for the occasion.

Kristina Tuckutė Found Love With John Branca After Redefining Her Priorities

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These days, she’s building her life in Los Angeles, but she hasn’t disappeared from Lithuanian media. Stilius put Tuckutė on its cover in 2011, then revisited that cover in 2025 to look back at how much her life had changed since.

That October, while celebrating her 42nd birthday at home, she told Stilius that her priorities had shifted toward independence, authenticity, and the people closest to her. “I value meaningful relationships more than anything superficial,” she explained, adding that she was looking forward to the life still ahead of her and continuing to set an example for Sasha, who’s now a teenager.

Two months later, in December 2025, Tuckutė married Branca, calling him the “love of her life.”

Kristina Tuckutė Says Time Away Helped Her Rediscover Her Voice

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In March 2026, Tuckutė returned to the pages of Stilius with a candid multi-page feature and a glamorous new photo shoot by photographer Igor Sanaev. In the interview, she opened up about the stretch she spent away from public life, saying the time gave her room to reconsider outside expectations about how she should look, behave, and present herself.

She described the retreat as “not an escape,” but a conscious choice that allowed her to hear herself instead of the voices around her. “Sometimes you need silence, distance and a new environment to truly grow as a person,” she told the magazine. Her faith helped carry her through, too. “After all, they say that God doesn’t give you difficulties that you can’t solve or overcome,” she said.

Whatever comes next, Tuckutė sounds optimistic about it. “I sincerely believe that the future is in our own hands,” she said shortly before marrying Branca. “We create it every day with our choices, our energy and the people we choose to keep close.”