Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Your Mama Done Got It WRONG!

WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

Today Your Mama comes to the children prostrated, humbled, and humiliated. We may write a snarky blog about the not very important subject of celebrity real estate, but Your Mama still endeavors to present accurate information about the properties and owners we discuss. Even still, we are sometimes wrong. Just plain wrong, as we were last week when we erroneously reported on a Hancock Park house we thought had been purchased by Spiderman actor Tobey Maguire and his baby mama (now wifey) Jennifer Meyer.

Here's what happened:

Two weeks ago Your Mama received an anonymous but very detailed tip about a house in Hancock Park that was rumored to have been purchased by the Maguire/Meyers. We could not confirm the tip with property records, so we held the story and quickly put out feelers to a handful of always reliable and knowledgeable sources.

Two sources confirmed that all fingers pointed towards Tobey Maguire. So Your Mama ran like the wind with the story, eager to break the news and offer something juicy for all the children to savor. One week after we discussed the property, we heard from the original tipster who informed us, regretfully, that he may have received and passed along incorrect information.

Mind atwitter and heart pounding, Your Mama hunted for more precise information to try to get to the bottom of the issue. Everything was jumbled, messy and unclear until we received an email today from a high powered individual who asked to remain anonymous and whom we will call The Tooth Fairy.

The Tooth Fairy informed Your Mama that a hugely successful and Emmy winning television producer named John Wells, with credits like ER, The West Wing, and China Beach, was selling his big Spanish style house on De Mille Drive in the gated and gorgeous Laughlin Park section of Los Feliz, and moving to the very same big English Tudor mansion on S. Hudson Avenue in Hancock Park that we had reported was purchased by Mister Tobey Maguire.

Oh Dear. Houston we have a problem.

Your Mama went back to the sources and managed, FINALLY, with the help of a top secret and extremely well placed informant, to cross reference the owner of the De Mille Drive house (John Wells) to the new owner of the big brick house on S. Hudson Avenue (also John Wells). John Wells, while rich and in "the bizness," is clearly and decidedly NOT Tobey Maguire. We also heard today, out of the blue and from someone whom we trust that Mister Maguire is still shopping for a new house for his new family.

So babies, Tobey Maguire did NOT buy the house on S. Hudson, and we are very sorry to have reported this in error and misinformed the children and provided any number of other blogs, websites, and publications with inaccurate information.

We're not wrong often, but when we are, we're really off the deep end, right? Onward and forward we march, this humiliation and error an angry notch in our lipstick case and fodder for the grist mill of gossip and dinner table conversation around the world.

Please know that Your Mama has no desire or intent to mislead or misinform. Nor do we believe that any of our tipsters and informants on this property had any intent to deceive. Mistakes get made and gossip is a slippery business. Please also be assured that Your Mama has always and will continue to make every effort to thoroughly research and report accurate information.

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

Like everything else (except weight, age, and 'does my ass look fat in this?'), honesty is the best policy.

Thanks, Mama, for setting the record straight- and I seriously doubt that any of your faithful readers will stop reading your fabulous blog just because of one itsy bitsy mistake!

. said...

Dear Mama, I wish the New York Times and The New Republic made apologies like this. Your mistake was an honest one. Your story was written without malice and you were not promoting some nefarious agenda. Get back on that horse Mama and quit beating yourself up. This groveling is not required. Now go wash your face, fix your make-up , and get out there!

Anonymous said...

Oh Mama, you know you can't do anything wrong in the eyes of your chirrun'. Don't fret one second more about it.

The chirrun' will always love their mama.

Anonymous said...

its alright mama, we still love you :)

Anonymous said...

whew!, i was worried it was another spelling error.

Unknown said...

That's aiight mama, we love you for your honesty and for just being you. Now...can we see the reat of the pics from tha Beverly House Estate??

Anonymous said...

Oh Mama,We still love you!!!

Anonymous said...

Ditto on all of the above!

You're still the best!

Anonymous said...

Coming clean is always the best policy Mama and we know you always try to give accurate information.

Don't sweat the petty things....or is that don't pet the sweaty things????

Anonymous said...

Hey, it's always fun to see upscale houses, no matter who owns them! I'll enjoy every house you bring to us, celebrity-owned or not. No worries!

Anonymous said...

In a gossip based business, mistakes are bound to happen!

That house is still gorgeous, even though Mr Mac isn't moving in :)

Anonymous said...

Cynical bastard said….
Spoke to the realtor selling Ramirez to Britney yesterday; he was enraged by the number of phone calls from the media looking for confirmation. His response “The owner has withdrawn the house and intends to move back in after the remodel and Britney has not bought it” Mama I hope some of your sources are not trying to deliberately mislead you. This is one of the best blogs

Anonymous said...

i dont care about toby anyway...

Anonymous said...

lol at caveman's entry...

hahhahah

Anonymous said...

"uh ohh" to anon 8:15

Anonymous said...

Seriously, one wrong item doesn't make us want to leave. It can happen. You followed the lead, checked out the appropriate sources. Seems alot of people were wrongly informed. I still am impressed by your ability to get all this information in a timely matter. Keep up the good work.

Miss Scarlett said...

Don't worry about it Mama. Your children understand you were just trying to do the right thing by us!

Anonymous said...

So what? You got it wrong this time! You delighted us with so many juicy real estate gossips that getting it wrong once in a while is just as small price to pay. Keep it up, mama. I am so addicted to this blog!

Anonymous said...

Dont worry, mama. I haven't been right about anything since '98.

Anonymous said...

someone needs a spanking.

Anonymous said...

Mama, Strapping Hunk reporting in. You're right 99% of the time and as someone who is dialed in, you should have just called me. Ms. Erinesine Carwell had the listing. And as a Southern Girl, she would have been polite and given you as much detail as she could. John Wells, who looks like a little pug dog, does most of his shows at The Warner Bros. Studio in Burbank. He just wanted something larger and in a better area. Strapping Hunk reporting live from Robertson Blvd - on assignment for TMZ. Out.

None said...

Errors in fact are okay, we all make mistakes...

At least you spelled all the names correctly, to do otherwise is to invoke the wrath of the grammar-spelling police. And we can't be having that again.

Anonymous said...

"I'd rather be strongly wrong than weakly right"

Anonymous said...

Tallulah my old gambling buddy... so nice to see you check in (where's my money?). XO to Caveman as well. Oh yes, and I still LOVES you Mama. As for Tobey and HP, well - neither of them appeal to me. They're both overrated!

so_chic_darling said...

Wrong or right,Mama rules!

Anonymous said...

"Show me a person who has never made a mistake and I'll show you somebody who has never achieved much"

Anonymous said...

At least we know the buyer has the $$$ to keep the house looking good!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for letting us know, Mama. It was still a treat to see the house. While striving for 100% accuracy it would be tough to accomplish. You have my devotion!

Anonymous said...

sorry to not have signed correctly (anon 12:24pm)...

Anonymous said...

This just confirms that you are a good source, because it's all on the table

Anonymous said...

Still lovin my Mama

Tricia said...

But what about the picture in US Weekly with the house and Tobey?