When news of Prince passing yesterday broke, Carlos Boozer paid his respects by sharing a picture on Instagram with the caption “Can’t Believe This… RIP To One Of The Biggest Icons Ever…” Most people would be surprised to know that Boozer and Prince have a history of their own, one that centered around Boozer’s Hollywood mansion.
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Boozer originally told this story back in 2011 in regards to a deal he made with Prince in 2004. He had just bought a nice, big mansion in West Hollywood and as it turned out, Prince was a big fan of the house himself.
“My realtor was like, ‘Yo, there’s this guy who wants to rent your house. He saw it before you bought it,’ ” Boozer recalled of the 2004 transaction. “I was like, ‘I’m not leasing my house. I’ve never done that.’
“The amount of money he was willing to pay made me reconsider. And that’s how Prince rented my house out.”
Once Prince moved in however, he made the place feel a little too much like home and Boozer was not feeling that. Multiple media outlets reported Prince paid $70,000 per month for the 10-bedroom, 11-bath home. The same reports said attorneys for Boozer filed suit against Prince/MPG Music for violating the eight-month lease because of “painting the exterior with purple striping, ‘prince’ symbol, and numbers 3121 (one of Prince’s albums).”
The suit also cited a purple monogrammed carpet was installed in the master bedroom and plumbing “for water transfer for beauty salon chairs” was added.
“He made it purple,” Boozer said. “He wanted to put his personal touch on it because he wanted to make it feel like home. According to Boozer’s former teammate, Jay Williams, Boozer was ready to put hands on Prince until he broke out his checkbook on the spot.
“Booz was like, ‘I was getting ready to go over there and beat this little man down,’ ” Williams said. “And dude was just like, ‘Here, Boozer, here is a little check for about a million, it’ll take care of everything, get it back the way you want it.’ And Booz was like, ‘This little man is cool as hell.'”
Boozer continued “I was kind of worried about that when I saw the house. But Prince was great. I had a conversation with him. He changed everything back the way it was before he moved out.
Prince was smooth enough to diffuse a situation before it even became something. Another great story to add to the collection about him.
