Hefner Neighbor Denies 'Gossip' Surrounding Deal To Buy Playboy Mansion

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The prospective buyer of the Playboy Mansion in Holmby Hills insisted Friday the sale is moving forward despite reports to the contrary.

Hannah Arnold, spokeswoman for Metropoulos & Co., said "Daren Metropoulos' purchase of the Playboy Mansion is moving forward as planned" and called "gossip" reports that the deal had fallen through "simply untrue".

TMZ reportedly earlier Friday the estimated $110 million deal had unraveled over requests by Metropoulos, 32, to have significant access to the property during Playboy founder Hugh Hefner's remaining years.

Hefner, 90, reportedly wants to live out the rest of his life at the mansion even after the sale goes through.

According to TMZ, Playboy officials believed Metropoulos was asking for an unreasonable amount of access with Hefner living at the mansion, so the
deal fell apart Thursday night.

But Arnold says the sale is advancing and that Metropoulos "continues to look forward to serving as the next steward of this iconic property".

Metropoulos, whose family owns Hostess Brands foods, lives next door to the 20,000-square-foot mansion on a property he bought from Hefner in 2009 for $18 million. He was believed to have been planning to merge the two properties once Hefner's tenancy ends.

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