Speculation about who won the Hotel Chelsea sweepstakes is reaching a fever pitch, and if there's one source we can trust to cut through all the rumors and deliver a kernel of truth, it's Courtney Love. No, seriously. For all her wobbly wackiness, Courtney Love?no stranger around these parts?happens to be well versed in Manhattan real estate, especially when it comes to historic downtown abodes where artists of all types have pitched their tents. Which isn't to say she's an easy nut to crack. Last week on her Tumblr blog, What Courtney Wore Today, Ms. Love, her assistants or a confusing combination of all of the above suddenly got into the Hotel Chelsea situation. After posting some links to coverage of the bohemian landmark, Team Courtney started dishing the dirt.
The leading rumor right now is that developer David Edelstein bought the property and plans on turning part of the hotel into condos. But Courtney ain't having that. "We vote Mr. Bard," the Tumblr post says, meaning the Bard family, former Chelsea managers and rumored bidders. But then the post dips back into Courtneyspeak and we get into a very long passage about "my Mr. B," obviously Andre Balazs, boutique hotel demigod and former Courtney Love paramour (and landlord!). Try to follow along:
I hope that the residents don’t loathe Mr. B as i’ve heard. In fact, if he bought it and clearly I’m not commenting on that, but I will say whatever is going to happen, has happened. The Chelsea is special beyond belief. I will only say that my Mr. B isn’t this terrible person they’re afraid of. He’s a good hearted lovely man and he takes care and respects artists on every level. If he does start, hypothetically speaking, selling, and I’m not commenting further except to say he will be very choosy about who gets in, in the best way. Socialites dancing on the roof? No. He’s too cool to let that happen, bluntly stated: we have presently some befuddling mega difficulties but I trust Mr. B with my life. And no one there should. If he were to choose it, be afraid of him.Got all that? Well, there's more. It's Balazs's partners that worry Courtney, but "he is perfectly capable of growing like a quiet panther and terrifying them into the shadows...The Chelsea is something of a civic concern. A destroyer of place he is not." Then there's a whole bunch of hard-to-decipher mutterings slamming Chelsea Handler (Balazs's latest rumored ex-ladyfriend) and Balazs's publicists. Yowza. The Daily News got in touch with Courtney to ask her about all this, and she started tossing out denials left and right. She also removed the post, but the cached version lives on, for now. Wouldn't Courtney Love breaking the news of who bought the Hotel Chelsea be appropriately weird for this icon?
· Cached version of Courtney Love's Hotel Chelsea ramblings [What Courtney Wore Today]
· Courtney Love's bizarre Tumblr post creates stir with references to former beau and hated rival [NYDN]
· Hotel Chelsea coverage [Curbed]
· Courtney Love coverage [Curbed]
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