Los Angeles- Is there a limit to how much attention one celebutante can get? Apparently not.
A Phoenix-based broker said a veritable “King Tut’s tomb” of Hilton-abilia discovered in a Los Angeles area storage locker includes photos of Hilton in various stages of undress, as well as her personal diaries recounting sexual escapades. Now he’s trying to auction it off – with the bidding beginning at $20 million.
David Hans Schmidt, dubbed the “Sultan of Sleaze” for brokering deals involving celebrity porn, said the items were obtained in November when the contents of a Los Angeles area storage facility were sold off for $2,775.
Schmidt said the items include 18 diaries whose pages recount sexual dalliances, celebrity encounters and other adventures; photographs of Hilton in a number of locales, such as St. Tropez and “wild parties” on yachts and in private homes; computers; clothing; videos; and furniture. Schmidt also said there were “sex toys” found in the locker.
A publicist for the heiress who is famous for being famous confirmed that Hilton’s personal belongings have been “illegally seized” from the storage facility, but said he cannot comment on Schmidt’s description of the items because he hasn’t seen them.
The publicist, Elliot Mintz, said the items were left in the storage facility while Hilton, 24, was moving from one Hollywood Hills home, where she had resided with her sister, Nicky, to another nearby home in 2004. But due to what the publicist called a “bureaucratic foul-up,” the items were improperly sold off to an unidentified buyer.
The publicist said Hilton is “incredibly upset and angry” and feels “victimized.” He added that Hilton’s lawyers are threatening legal action against anyone in possession of the items.
Schmidt said the items are being kept in a safe location, out of California. He said he initially believed the items could be sold for as much as $5 million. Upon further review, he said he believes the bidding can reasonably begin at $20 million.
Schmidt said he’ll be happy to return the items to Hilton – if she can afford the asking price.
Mintz responded: “I’m certainly not closing the door on [Paris buying back the materials].” But he also characterized the $20 million asking price as a “rather irrational request.”
This isn’t the first time that “The Simple Life” reality TV star has suffered a security breach: The heiress shot to fame after a homemade sex video surfaced on the Internet in 2003, and the contents of her T-Mobile account were posted to the Internet in 2005, including phone numbers of celebrity friends.
Schmidt declined to detail what is contained in the diaries, but said they include, “everything that would be dear to a woman’s heart: relationships, personal feelings, sex, love, break-ups, sexual experiences, all those little things that make up a little girl’s life. Her deepest, darkest secrets.”