Madonna Gets Court Order to Stop 'Outrageous' Auction

Halted (for now): sale of star's worn underwear, hairbrush, letter from Tupac
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 19, 2017 6:55 AM CDT
Madonna Gets Court Order to Stop 'Outrageous' Auction
In this Sept. 15, 2016, file photo, Madonna poses for photographers upon arrival at the world premiere of the film "The Beatles: Eight Days a Week" in London.   (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

Most people would consider love letters, hairbrushes, and underwear to be "highly personal items"—and a New York state Supreme Court judge agreed that, in Madonna's case, those items shouldn't be put up for auction, the AP reports. On Tuesday, the pop star received the emergency court order she was seeking that stops (for now) auction house Gotta Have It! Collectibles from hawking 22 former material possessions of the Material Girl, including said brush (complete with strands of hair), panties she once wore, and a love note from rapper Tupac Shakur, whom she used to date. In court papers, Madonna noted she'd been "shocked to learn" the Tupac letter, which some anticipated would sell for up to $400,000, had been removed from her home (she fingers former friend Darlene Lutz, who used to stay at her house often, as the one who swiped her personal effects).

Madonna also mentioned that by putting her hairbrush up for grabs, the auction house was also selling her DNA, a move she called "outrageous" and "grossly offensive." Also pulled from the "for sale" pile: vacation pictures, checkbooks, cassette tapes with never-before-released recordings, and a letter in which Madonna railed against Whitney Houston and Sharon Stone, calling them "horribly mediocre," per the Telegraph and Reuters. A rep for the auction house and Lutz says in an emailed statement that Madonna's claims are "baseless" and that they'll be fighting to reschedule the sale, which had originally been set for Wednesday. (More Madonna stories.)

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