Black Lives Matter (BLM) co-founder Patrisse Cullors has admitted that she used the group’s multi-million-dollar mansion in Los Angeles for two personal parties in 2021, just a month after suggesting that she had never used the property for personal gain.
Cullors, a self-described “trained Marxist,” told The Associated Press on May 9 that she hosted a small party at the mansion in January 2021, to celebrate the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. She added that about 15 people participated in the party, including members from the Los Angeles chapter of BLM.
At the time, Cullors said she was “seeking refugee” at the mansion because there were “threats against her life.”
The second party at the mansion was held in March 2021, Cullors said, a private birthday celebration for her son.
According to AP, BLM said it had billed Cullors a “rental fee” for using the mansion for her son’s birthday party, and Cullors said she intended to make the payment.
“I look back at that and think, that probably wasn’t the best idea,” Cullors said about her two parties at the mansion.
In April, Cullors denied she had ever lived in the mansion or taken advantage of the property for personal reasons, after New York Magazine revealed that the group bought the property for $5.8 million in October 2020. The 6,500-square-foot estate was purchased with money that had been donated to Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, just two weeks after BLM received $66.5 million from its fiscal sponsor.
Dyane Pascall, the financial manager for a consulting firm operated by Cullors and her spouse Janaya Khan, bought the mansion, according to the magazine. Within a week after the purchase, Pascall transferred the ownership of the property to an LLC in Delaware, a move that “ensured that the ultimate identity of the property’s new owner was not disclosed to the public,” the magazine added.
At the time, Cullors railed against the magazine’s story, saying it was a “despicable abuse of a platform that’s intended to provide information to the public” and a “racist and sexist” attack on BLM.
By Frank Fang
