UPDATE: Nic Cage and Michael Jackson

...Reports are starting to trickle out that prolific property collector Nic Cage has sold his legendary Bel Air, CA mansion for $14,500,000 in a private deal to the perma-tanned and publicity hungry French fashion designer Christian Audigier. Your Mama smells a rat.

Although the Cage estate on Copa de Oro Road was removed from the open market in late May of 2009, property records we accessed do not yet reflect a transfer of ownership. In an effort to sort out the truth of the matter, we put out some feelers for confirmation and even though it's practically the crack of the damn dawn we heard back instantly from Gary Gabsallthetime who said, "Don't believe it." We don't, and neither should you until some real evidence presents itself.

The children may recall that Mister Audigier, a man who manages to get hundreds of dollars for t-shirts and jeans emblazoned with sparkly things, has cut quite a swath through the gossip glossies lately. Over the summer Mister Audigier was seen humping around the South of France with octodad John Gosselin whose Warholian 15 minutes should have been up a very long time ago.

But it's Mister Audigier's connections to Michael Jackson that is really launching Mister Audigier into the gossip stratosphere. First it was reported that Mister Audigier planned on leasing the Holmby Hills mansion where Michael Jackson was given a lethal dose of Propofol by his personal physician Dr. Conrad Murray. His plan, it was reported, was to use the N. Carolwood Drive mansion as his company headquarters. Some reports have said Mister Audigier is actually a co-owner of the Carolwood Drive estate making him Mister Jackson's landlord. We don't find any documents that link Mister Audigier to the property, but that does not mean he does not have a financial stake in the property that official records show is owned by Roxanne and Hubert Guez who also happens to be the CEO of Ed Hardy, one of many labels "designed" by Monsieur Audigier. Coinkydink? You decide.

Ever the publicity opportunist, on the heels of Mister Jackson's death Mister Audigier has launched a line of clothing he claims he worked on with and was approved by Michael Jackson, because every damn fool needs a pair of rhinestone socks.

The newest rumors (and reports) say that Mister Audigier has finalized the purchase of Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch in Los Olivos, CA. We don't know if that's true, and we're skeptical, but in an interview with the Agence France-Presse, Mister Audigier is quoted, "I bought the Michael Jackson house. It's something I'm gonna open just for the birthday (sic) of his death every June, where the media is gonna be able to come in and we'll do exposes, etc."

As far as we know, Mister Audigier, who in a stunning display of narcissism has his every move recorded by a private videographer, still lives in a mansion on S. Muirfield Road in Hancock Park that records reveal he bought in January of 2007 for $4,780,000. Mister Cage's Bel Air behemoth was first listed about 1,000 years ago at a ridiculous $35,000,000 and was last on the open market with a much less insane asking price of $17,500,000. Neverland Ranch is owned by Colony Capital who took possession and control of the massive ranch in 2008 as part of a complicated financial arrangement with Mister Jackson and it's widely believed Colony Capital would like to sell the property to re-coup their investment.