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.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday December 14, 2006 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 49 words Type of Material: Correction
Tori Spelling sale: An article in Sunday's California section about a yard sale at actress Tori Spelling's Studio City house said the sale was videotaped for her reality show, "So NoTORIous," on VH1. The videotape will air on another show, as yet unscheduled, on the Oxygen cable TV network.
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.
