- Dov Charney is trying to prevent his Silver Lake mansion from being sold in bankruptcy proceedings.
- The court has served the ousted American Apparel founder and seven other residents orders to vacate.
As Dov Charney slogs his way through bankruptcy proceedings, the state of California is fighting to get the ousted American Apparel founder and his friends — including Kanye West affiliates Ian Connor and Milo Yiannopoulos — to vacate Charney's historic Silver Lake mansion.
The iconic Garbutt House, built in the late 1920s as the residence of inventor Frank A. Garbutt, has no official renters or current leases, according to reporting by The Los Angeles Times. Still, seven residents, including Charney, Connor, and Yiannopoulos, as well as multiple former American Apparel employees, have been served motions to turnover their possession of the property that Charney purchased for $4.1 million in 2006, when American Apparel's popularity was booming, the outlet reported.
A sprawling, 20-room estate, the Garbutt House is located in the gated Hathaway Hills Estates community in a residential neighborhood of Los Angeles. Positioned above the surrounding cul-de-sacs, the concrete compound features bronze accents, ornate tile, and a 360-degree panoramic view of the city. It has been a famous filming location for movies since the silent era.
The structure was built with its original owner's deathly fear of fire in mind, the Times reported. Though it features decorative carvings that appear to be made from wood, the focal points are made entirely of concrete and bronze, and there are no fireplaces on the property.
An empire on fire
But now that Charney's empire has come crashing down following allegations of sexual harassment from multiple women and an unsuccessful $20 million bid to try to re-take control of his company, his debtors — including the hedge fund he borrowed the $20 million from — are trying to collect. But they aren't having an easy time of it.
An attorney for Brad Krasnoff, the government-appointed trustee assigned to oversee the liquidation of Charney's assets to pay his debtors in the bankruptcy process, said in a court filing that so far, Krasnoff has been refused access to the Garbutt House property, despite court orders for Charney and his associates to hand it over.
Charney's legal counsel has tried to fight the turnover motion, The Times reported, arguing that 17 liens in place against the property should prevent the trustee from selling it because the sale of the property wouldn't generate enough money to pay back Charney's debts.
Charney, who now owns Los Angeles Apparel, and his legal counsel did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider.
'This place is like a dorm'
While the outcome of whether the house will be sold is decided in court, the trustee in the case says Charney, Connor, Yiannopoulos, and the other residents have stalled for months, refusing to allow access to the property so it can be shown to potential buyers.
"The Trustee is frustrated that this is taking too long. The broker was employed to list the Apex property 3 and a half weeks ago, and we still don't have access," Eric Israel, an attorney for the trustee, wrote in an August 5 email to Charney's attorney, the Times reported: "We need cooperation now."
Yiannopoulos did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider. He declined to respond to the Times reporter's questions about the Garbutt House, calling the requests "audacious and impertinent."
Connor did not respond to a request for comment from Insider, nor did he reply to requests from the Times.
Though multiple members of the Garbutt House have been tied to Ye — Yiannopoulous was briefly in charge of West's political operations; Connor is a former Yeezy model; and Charney is reportedly the CEO of the mogul's fashion brand — West himself was not named in the bankruptcy proceedings. It remains unclear whether he lives or has lived at the Garbutt House.
Bruce Marks, Ye's attorney, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.
Meanwhile, the Times reported the house has a revolving door of guests, and Yiannopoulos continues to receive strange mail there, including audio equipment and a package from Coddies, a company that makes novelty flip-flops shaped like fish.
"This place is like a dorm," Pan Pan, a fabric and clothing manufacturer who spent about a month at Charney's house earlier this year, told the Times. "It's people in and out."