LOS ANGELES — from www.ktla.com – There are 1,001 stories behind the elegant homes of Beverly Hills and Bel Air. But KTLA News found one home with a story that is truly remarkable…and hard to believe.
Behind the storied gates of Bel Air sits a home that once sat at the end of the rainbow, a pot of gold earned from the classic Hollywood musicals.
It’s a home that, in a sense, was built by the “Wizard of Oz.” But today the home instead hosts the ‘ooohs’ and ‘ahhhs’…of the adult film industry.
As a producer on the most famous Hollywood musical of all time, Arthur Freed was on the yellow brick road to fame and fortune in Hollywood. He went on to win four Oscars, producing such legendary musicals as “Showboat,” “An American in Paris,” “Singin’ in the Rain,” and countless others.
Freed cashed in on his Hollywood hits, buying a lavish estate in Be Air, where he raised a family and lived for decades until his death in the 1970’s.
Freed’s grandson gave KTLA News a glimpse of the stately property. And KTLA learned that after a few ownership changes, his granddad’s home had fallen into the hands of a very surprising name: Ibrahim Mohammed Binladin, brother of Osama Bin Laden.
“When I was told that this was Ibrahim Binladin’s house,” Freed’s grandson tells KTLA News, “I thought this is one of those rare occasions where life is stranger than fiction.”
After the tragedy of 9/11, published reports suggested that members of the Bin Laden family living in the U.S. were whisked out of the country.
And what KTLA News learned from the caretaker of the property seems to support that.
“The people living here are overseas,” the caretaker told KTLA News. And when asked if it was the Bin Ladens, the caretaker said, “Exactly.”
Today the home that once held the man who composed music for Dorothy and the Tin Man has been used for other things. KTLA News has learned, by obtaining film permits from the film permit company FILM L.A., that on five occasions over the past two years, the home in the middle of Bel Air has been used as a film location for adult entertainment: porn films.
A film titled “Educating Alli” from Wicked Pictures and starring adult film superstar Alektra Blue, was one of the X-rated films shot at the former Freed estate. Representatives for Wicked Pictures declined to speak with KTLA about the filming, but neighbors contacted by KTLA News were shocked to hear about the fresh porn in Bel Air.
“I really have no idea what goes on behind those gates,” confessed Jacqueline Brandwynne, a longtime Bel Air resident.
Brandwynne told KTLA News that she has seen film trucks at the property, but about the work being for adult films, Brandwynne said, “Oh I don’t believe it! Oh my god, I had no idea! In the middle of Bel Air? I am shocked beyond belief as to what you’re telling me!”
There is no law that prevents the shooting of adult entertainment fare under the proper conditions, in Los Angeles County. But meanwhile, the home that Dorothy built — bought by the Bin Ladens, and now a backdrop for X-rated fare — is truly a tale that could only happen in Hollywood.