Candy Spelling in 2023. Photo:
Michael Tullberg/Getty
Candy Spelling has lost her home in the still-raging Los Angeles wildfires, a friend confirms to PEOPLE
On Thursday, Jan. 9, Nikki Haskell, a friend of the 79-year-old Broadway producer — who is mom to Beverly Hills, 90210 star Tori Spelling and her brother Randy, as well as widow of their late TV producer father Aaron Spelling — confirmed to PEOPLE that the Malibu, Calif. home has burned down in the Palisades Fire.
“It’s the house she owned with Aaron for 50 years,” Haskell tells PEOPLE.
She adds that “Candy is safe,” having been staying at her Beverly Hills residence at the time of the fire while there was construction at the Malibu property, but says, “this feels like an apocalyptic crisis.” TMZ was the first to report the news.
The Wall Street Journal reported back in 2019 that the couple — who were married from 1968 until Aaron’s death in 2006 — bought their Malibu home in 1972 and later added the home next door to the property in the ’90s. The 8,000-square foot beachfront home featured seven bedrooms, the outlet added.
A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire as homes burn along Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, Calif. Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty
The Malibu property is different from the well-known Spelling mansion, the custom-built house located in Los Angeles’ Holmby Hills neighborhood (about 30 miles east of coastal Malibu) where the family of four once lived in the 1990s and threw lavish parties.
New York Times best-selling author Candy sold the 123-room, French chateau-style property in 2011. She had customized the 56,500 sq. ft. property following her husband’s death with unique flourishes like rooms just for gift wrapping, flower cutting and one dedicated to her doll collection.
“I spent four years, 24-7, planning this house,” she told PEOPLE at the time. “Now I need something smaller – just for me. I’m going to have to give up some things, but it’s time for a change.”
Dozens of beachfront homes in Malibu destroyed in the Palisades Fire. David Crane/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty
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The destructive Palisades Fire first began in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Pacific Palisades on Jan. 7 and has since burned over 17,000 acres with 0% containment, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Another major fire, dubbed the Eaton fire, started in the eastern L.A. County cities of Pasadena and Altadena, and it has already reached over 20,000 acres. Four additional fires also continue to burn in the region.
As of Thursday, Jan. 9, over 100,000 residents are under evacuation orders. As of Wednesday, city officials reported five fatalities, though a concrete death toll has yet to be determined, they noted the following day.
Residents, including many celebrities, from areas such as Malibu, Santa Monica, Altadena and more, were forced to evacuate.
PEOPLE reported that Adam Brody and Leighton Meester, Anna Faris, Cobie Smulders and Taran Killam, John Goodman, Jennifer Grey and others all lost homes. Billy Crystal, Ricki Lake, Cameron Mathison, Miles Teller and Paris Hilton are among the stars who have confirmed their homes are gone.
Hilton spoke candidly about losing her own Malibu home in an Instagram post, writing about the fond memories she had there.
“Sitting with my family, watching the news, and seeing our home in Malibu burn to the ground on live TV is something no one should ever have to experience,” she wrote in part. “This home was where we built so many precious memories. … It’s where Phoenix took his first steps and where we dreamed of building a lifetime of memories with London. … While the loss is overwhelming, I’m holding onto gratitude that my family is safe. My heart and prayers are going out to every family affected by these fires.”
Click here to learn more about how to help the victims of the L.A. fires.
