‘Selling Sunset’ star apologizes to this California town
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, Calif. - The eighth season of Netflix’s wildly popular real estate show "Selling Sunset" premiered last week and one California town looked to correct the narrative of one of the season’s storylines.
"Selling Sunset" introduced new cast member and agent, Alanna Gold. During the season, she told her cast members that she, along with her husband, "own Pioneertown." Then during a quick getaway from Los Angeles, some of the cast took a trip to Joshua Tree, and while in the desert, they made the trek up to the small town in San Bernardino County.
While Gold managed to stay out of the drama on the show, she was hit by some controversy in real life.
A short time after the season hit the streaming platform, Pioneertown asked for an apology on Instagram and said Gold’s claims that she owns the unincorporated community were "baseless." They added her claim "undermines 78 years of internationally celebrated film, arts and cultural history. These claims belittle generations of artists, neighbors, nature lovers, community members, musicians, small business owners and otherwise magnificent people of Pioneertown."
The caption added Gold "has a small minority non-controlling interest in an entity that owns six of thirty five parcels in the Mane Street area."
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"The claim that she owns the ‘entire town’ is verifiably false," the town’s statement concluded.
Pioneertown, California (Photo by Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Image (Getty Images)
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Gold owned the situation and didn’t hesitate to issue an apology. In an interview with PEOPLE, she shared that her first date and wedding with her husband occurred in Pioneertown.
"I want to reach out to personally say I am so deeply sorry for the confusion I have caused," Gold said in a statement.
"I certainly do not own Pioneertown, I never should have said that and I apologize for doing so. I want you to know that I did not mean any harm, I absolutely love Pioneertown and I simply got too excited talking about it," she continued.
"We wanted to become part of the community, so we invested in a home and other properties there," she added. "Again, I am so sorry to the people of Pioneertown, I would never want to disrespect the town’s history or any of the people who make it such a wonderful place."