Per a request filed in New York State Supreme Court, the pop star is seeking to remove 20 items from the sale. These include a pair of underwear, an old checkbook, a hairbrush, personal photos, the Tupac letter and another previously reported missive. That note – addressed to a “J” believed to be actor John Enos, whom the pop star briefly dated – was expected to fetch at least $5,000 because in it Madonna called Whitney Houston and Sharon Stone “horribly mediocre.”
As of Tuesday, several Madonna lots were no longer listed on the Gotta Have It Collectibles website, including the two letters. The auction is set to begin July 19th and still features over 100 Madonna items, including costumes, photographs and lyric sheets.
Representatives for Madonna, Gotta Have It Collectibles and the estate of Tupac Shakur did not immediately return Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.
In the court filings, Madonna said she was not aware that she no longer possessed the items headed to auction until she read reports of their impending sale. Madonna’s former friend and art consultant Darlene Lutz allegedly cosigned the items to the auction house. In the court documents, Madonna claimed Lutz had “betrayed my trust in an outrageous effort to obtain my possessions without my knowledge or consent.”
In a statement to Reuters, Gotta Have It and Lutz said they would challenge Madonna’s claims in court and called her attempt to stop the sale “a completely baseless and meritless action.” The statement continued, “We believe that her intent is nothing more than to besmirch the good reputations of the auction house and Ms. Lutz.”
Article Appeared @http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/madonna-files-suit-to-stop-auction-of-tupac-breakup-letter-w493032