Kanye West bought a run-down church for $1.5million but failed to renovate it before it got burned down and now the incident is said to be under investigation
Kanye West’s burned down church is under investigation amid an arson probe. The $1.5million (£1.12million) derelict property was set alight in October 2024.
The building in Northridge near Los Angeles was run down before it went up in flames. It burned down months after it’s thought the artist now legally known as Ye, 47, let the plot to rot. The state it had been left in had caused neighbours to brandish the space an “eye sore”.
Now, it’s claimed the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety has inspected the place twice. Reports suggest they have visited once in January, and again in March.
According to the Sun, the rapper wasn’t present and hasn’t paid for the inspections. The publication also says LADBS has placed two liens on the space. Ye initially bought the land in January 2023.
The rapper purchased the property from Cornerstone Christian Church in Northridge, Los Angeles, but months later still hadn’t made any major renovations. There had been reported plans to move his Christian school Donda Academy into one of the buildings. But instead, the lot was left in disarray before it was burned down.
The fire at the property occurred on October 14, 2024. There were no injuries reported, but a nearby residence did sustain superficial damage from the fires that lasted over 30 minutes.
The news comes as Ye reportedly faces more tax charges. He is said to have racked up more property tax arrears on five of his lavish properties. The Sun claims the total currently stands at an eye-watering $448,254.
Ye recently stormed out of an interview with Piers Morgan after just two minutes. Appearing on On Piers Morgan Uncensored, the musician cut the interview short when he accused the former Good Morning Britain man of ‘patronising’ him. It came after the TV presenter mistakenly said that he had 32 million followers on Twitter/X – rather than 33 million followers.
The interview didn’t start well – coming a day late. When the hard-to-watch interview did kick off, Piers asked how Ye’s life was at the moment? Referring to the backdrop, he said: “You see that view?… Judge it on the view on the answer how my life is, judge me by the view.”
Piers responded: “The view is Majorca, I’ve been there. It’s a beautiful place, and for all intents and purposes, you seem very relaxed and happy. That is in direct contrast to your public image at the moment, over the last couple of years, led by your ferocious… [he begins to interrupt] Well, hang on. Let me finish the question…”
Ye hit back: “But I already disagree, it’s not in contrast, there’s so many people and artists that are championing the idea of someone being able to just express who they really are, and have been able to go through the war of being attacked by the banks, being attacked, you know, by the banks – that’s the best way to put it. Being attacked by the banks, and to still be here with this view is, you know, that’s the win. So I think that’s, I’m in contrast to your contrast.”
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