Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Tori Spelling's Yard Sale of 2006
Only in Hollywood can a yard sale for a minor celebrity escalate into a hyperventilated national entertainment event.
That's what happened this weekend at the rented home of actors Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott off Mulholland Drive in Studio City. Blowing out the past to make a fresh start, the newlyweds opened their house to all comers and offered their possessions for sale Friday and Saturday.
The everything-must-go "Tori Spelling Dazzling Studio City Estate Sale" quickly reached feverish proportions that, even by Hollywood standards, teetered on the surreal. Ten TV news helicopters hovered overhead and camera crew trucks blocked the road, resulting in traffic jams, resulting in angry neighbors, resulting in a police response. The paparazzi prowled Dona Lisa Drive angling for a glimpse of the couple inside their home.
Outside, legions of die-hard fans and publicity seekers converged, as well as ordinary people eager to possess a sliver of fame. Three fans of the 1990s television show "Beverly Hills, 90210" -- which featured Spelling -- caught a flight from Boston to shop at the sale. Perez Hilton, the gay activist blogger and celebrity lampooner, and his entourage came for a piece of the action.
"We were the top news story all day in the entertainment capital of the world," McDermott said Saturday.
Not that the couple object to publicity. The entire event was videotaped for Spelling's VH1 reality show, "So NoTORIous," which is loosely based on Spelling's life, except the program is scripted, in which the main character's mom is portrayed as having an out-of-control shopping addiction.
She is the daughter of the late Aaron Spelling, producer of such hits as "90210," "Dynasty," "Melrose Place" and "Charlie's Angels." He left his wife, Candy, about $300 million, while Tori reportedly received less than $1 million.
The official reason given for the sale was that McDermott and the pregnant Spelling plan to open a bed-and-breakfast inn and raise their child outside Los Angeles. They have been looking at sites in Ojai, Temecula and Idyllwild.
Inside the house, everything was for sale: wine glasses, jewelry, dresses, cabinets, lingerie, china, a dominatrix whip, paintings, plush toys, vases, sofas, wine bottles, roller skates and a rubber duck. However, Mimi LaRue, Spelling's 13-pound pug, which she sometimes dresses in chiffon and pearls, was not for sale.
There were memorabilia from "90210" -- they sold fast -- as well as items from "So NoTORIous" -- they barely sold at all. Also sold were memorabilia of Spelling's wedding to actor-writer Charlie Shanian, whom she divorced after two years when she fell in love with Canadian actor McDermott, who divorced his wife and married Spelling in Fiji in May.
One person paid $25 for Spelling's plastic Starbucks mug -- evidently a fair exchange considering the cup retained a smear of Spelling's lipstick and came with her autograph. An antiques dealer paid $1,600 for a set of vintage Louis Vuitton luggage, figuring he could resell it for more.
By garage-sale standards, prices were largely haggle-proof, though people could pay with a credit card and leave with their loot packed in Tori Spelling Estate Sale bags.
Grace Ferrer of Long Beach and Lucy Castano of Los Feliz purchased two colorful glass bottles signed by Spelling for $10 each, as well as a tube-like dress, a Gucci shoe bag, a book with a brass dog atop it and a seashell.
"She's a celebrity, so you expect to find good brands" of merchandise, Ferrer said.
As many as 300 buyers stood in line for up to three hours as security personnel allowed only 20 shoppers in the house at a time. Film crew guy Patrick "Trainwreck" Gilman managed the queue, collected phone numbers of females and had people making coffee runs for him. Security officials had printed up 100 numbers for potential buyers but quickly ran out as the line snaked up the sidewalk and down the block.
Kim Pappas celebrated her 27th birthday waiting on the sidewalk outside the house. She said she used to watch "90210" and felt compelled to purchase something -- anything -- for herself and the people on her Christmas shopping list. "I just feel I need to buy something. It's my obligation to the '90210' era," Pappas said.
Heather Fill of Marina del Rey marveled at the spectacle as she waited in line before entering the house Saturday afternoon.
"I'm just intrigued. No one else's yard sale would get this much press," Fill said. "My yard sale never got picked up on 'Access Hollywood.' Only in L.A.!"
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Video reveals G20 police assault on man who died
Exclusive footage obtained by the Guardian shows Ian Tomlinson, who died during G20 protests in London, was attacked from behind by baton–wielding police officer
- guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 7 April 2009 17.53 BST
- Article history
Dramatic footage obtained by the Guardian shows that the man who died at last week's G20 protests in London was attacked from behind and thrown to the ground by a baton–wielding police officer in riot gear.
Moments after the assault on Ian Tomlinson was captured on video, he suffered a heart attack and died.
The Guardian is preparing to hand a dossier of evidence to the police complaints watchdog.
It sheds new light on the events surrounding the death of the 47-year-old newspaper seller, who had been on his way home from work when he was confronted by lines of riot police near the Bank of England.
The submission to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) includes a collection of testimonies from witnesses, along with the video footage, shot at around 7.20pm, which shows Tomlinson at Royal Exchange Passage.
The film reveals that as he walks, with his hands in his pockets, he does not speak to the police or offer any resistance.
A phalanx of officers, some with dogs and some in riot gear, are close behind him and try to urge him forward.
A Metropolitan police officer appears to strike him with a baton, hitting him from behind on his upper thigh.
Moments later, the same policeman rushes forward and, using both hands, pushes Tomlinson in the back and sends him flying to the ground, where he remonstrates with police who stand back, leaving bystanders to help him to his feet.
The man who shot the footage, a fund manager from New York who was in London on business, said: "The primary reason for me coming forward is that it was clear the family were not getting any answers."
The Guardian's dossier also includes a sequence of photographs, taken by three different people, showing the aftermath of the attack, as well as witness statements from people in the area at the time.
A number of witnesses provided time and date-stamped photographs that substantiate their accounts.
Some said they saw police officers attack Tomlinson.
Witnesses said that, prior to the moment captured on video, he had already been hit with batons and thrown to the floor by police who blocked his route home.
One witness, Anna Branthwaite, a photographer, described how, in the minutes before the video was shot, she saw Tomlinson walking towards Cornhill Street.
"A riot police officer had already grabbed him and was pushing him," she said.
"It wasn't just pushing him – he'd rushed him. He went to the floor and he did actually roll. That was quite noticeable.
"It was the force of the impact. He bounced on the floor. It was a very forceful knocking down from behind. The officer hit him twice with a baton when he was lying on the floor.
"So it wasn't just that the officer had pushed him – it became an assault.
"And then the officer picked him up from the back, continued to walk or charge with him, and threw him.
"He was running and stumbling. He didn't turn and confront the officer or anything like that."
The witness accounts contradict the official version of events given by police.
In an official statement on the night of Tomlinson's death, the Metropolitan police made no reference to any contact with officers and simply described attempts by police medics and an ambulance crew to save his life after he collapsed – efforts they said were marred by protesters throwing missiles as first aid was administered .
The force said officers had created a cordon around Tomlinson to give him CPR.
"The officers took the decision to move him as during this time a number of missiles - believed to be bottles - were being thrown at them," it said.
Yesterday, the IPCC began managing an investigation by City of London police into the circumstances of Tomlinson's death after the Guardian published photographs of him on the ground and witness statements indicated he had been assaulted by police officers.
The IPCC commissioner for London, Deborah Glass, said: "Initially, we had accounts from independent witnesses who were on Cornhill, who told us that there had been no contact between the police and Mr Tomlinson when he collapsed."
"However, other witnesses who saw him in the Royal Exchange area have since told us that Mr Tomlinson did have contact with police officers.
"This would have been a few minutes before he collapsed. It is important that we are able to establish as far as possible whether that contact had anything to do with his death."
The IPCC added that Tomlinson was captured on CCTV walking onto Royal Exchange Passage.
"This is the aspect of the incident that the IPCC is now investigating," it said.
It was here the video was shot. A post mortem carried out by a Home Office pathologist last Friday revealed Tomlinson died of a heart attack.
Prior to seeing the dossier of evidence, Tomlinson's family said in a statement: "There were so many people around where Ian died, and so many people with cameras, that somebody must have seen what happened in the Royal Exchange passageway.
"We need to know what happened there and whether it had anything to do with Ian's death.
"We know that some people who were at the protest may not feel comfortable talking to the police.
"People are putting pictures on the internet, writing on blogs and talking to journalists. But we really need them to talk to the people who are investigating what happened."
Friday, April 03, 2009
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
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