An abandoned $10million Hollywood Hills mansion, where disgraced rapper Diddy filmed a music video, has been trashed by graffiti artists and taken over by squatters.
Filmmaker Nick Sozonov caught some of Los Angeles‘ greatest graffiti artists vandalizing a multimillion home in Hollywood Hills that was abandoned by billionaire and Philadelphia Phillies owner John S. Middleton’s son, John Powers Middleton.
The gorgeous white and glass home – that used to belong to singer Mary J. Blige – is now covered in rainbow art from words, to a crying dead heart, to faces.
‘With the graffiti towers and this graffiti mansion right now, it feels like a big middle finger to the city,’ Sozonov, who was not involved in the tagging, told ABC 7.
On the corner of the roof reads: ‘Diddy was here,’ as it is the mansion where the rapper – who was arrested in Manhattan this week as part of a sex-trafficking probe – filmed his ‘Last Night’ video, which came out in 2016.
‘We all recognized the song, and once we knew that was the house, everyone was excited about it, like a celebrity mansion,’ Sozonov told ABC 7.
The house has seen an influx of taggers after the connection to Diddy was made.
The Los Angeles Police Department has been called to the six-bedroom home at least six times this month for reports of vandalism and trespassing and has removed at least 10 people on Wednesday, according to the local outlet.
One person was arrested on a warrant, ABC 7 said.
One vandal even boasted about his work to KTLA, calling his artwork ‘beautiful’ and said the home had a ‘lot of potential for graffiti art.’
He said it was easy to get into the property from several access points.
Private security now patrols the house 24 hours a day.
Despite the neighborhood not liking the vandalism and squatting, one told KTLA that the taggers weren’t dangerous and didn’t feel unsafe.
‘It’s become a bit larger than it should be, and there doesn’t seem to be much concern for the safety and well-being of the neighbors,’ resident Magnus Fiennes told ABC 7.
Resident Mateo Herrerros said the taggers are also graffitiing ‘other houses on other properties.’
‘I could care less about this house. It’s an abandoned house. The owner doesn’t care about it. I don’t really care about it. It’s just the element it brings,’ he told NBC Los Angeles.
LA Councilwomahttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-13858269/sean-diddy-combs-arrested-manhattan-indictment.htmln Nithya Raman said in a statement to ABC 7 that Middleton is in ‘egregious violation of the law’ and said her office would be ‘elevating the issue with the abandoned buildings unit at the Department of Building and Safety to ensure that the fullest extent of enforcement is being implemented urgently and swiftly.’
Raman said Middleton has ignored an abatement order, which was issued by the Department of Buildings.
A lien has also been issued on the mansion and Middleton defaulted on property taxes for several years, ABC 7 reported.
Middleton also owns another mansion in the area that he abandoned that has been overtaken by squatters.
The mansion, located at 7571 Mulholland Drive, used have squatters living it as well until a fence was constructed to keep them out, but that didn’t last long.
‘They cut the fence. There were a lot of very questionable people,’ Karin Gideon told ABC 7. ‘Some were crazy, some actually became threatening,’ she said of the squatters.
Neighbors told NBC Los Angeles that the home has been vacant for about a decade, but squatters only started to arrive around a year ago.
Middleton bought the property in 2012. Ten years later, he declared it a nuisance and he was ordered by the Department of Buildings to build a fence around it, which he failed to do. The city then built the fence, according to NBC Los Angeles.
As for the future of the property, one neighborhood resident, Pat Johnson, heard there may be demolition plans coming.
This week, Diddy was arrested at Park Hyatt Hotel in New York City and was later charged with sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution – all of which he pleaded not guilty to in a Manhattan court.
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