Talk show host Tavis Smiley, who last month was ordered to pay PBS $1.5 million in a dispute over his firing, is looking to sell his home in historic Hancock Park. The Spanish-style charmer is up for grabs at $6.2 million, real estate records show.
Smiley bought the property in 2006 for $3.4 million, according to public records. That was two years after he began hosting his eponymous late-night talk show on PBS. Smiley was fired in 2017 amid sexual misconduct allegations, which he has strenuously denied.
Built in 1929, the two-story home featureds arched openings and an ivy-covered facade. The main house has seven bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms in 6,000 square feet, and the guest suite tacks on two bedrooms and a bathroom in 1,000 square feet.
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Formal common spaces include a living room with a wet bar, a dining room with built-ins and a den with leather floors.
Upstairs, the master suite has a fireplace, a spacious walk-in closet and an elevator connecting to the covered patio down below. The space leads to a landscaped backyard complete with a pool, spa and fountain. A second-story balcony takes in neighborhood views.
Smiley, 53, hosted “BET Talk” on BET from 1996 to 2002, and, following a three-year stint on National Public Radio, started hosting “The Tavis Smiley Show” on PBS from 2004 to 2017. He sued PBS for wrongful termination in 2017, but in March, a Washington, D.C., jury ordered him to pay the broadcaster $1.486 million for breach of contract.
The historic Hancock Park neighborhood has seen plenty of action over the last few years. Kunal Nayyar of “The Big Bang Theory” bought Nicolas Cage’s former Tudor last year for $7.5 million, and former USC great Lynn Swann sold his contemporary-style home earlier this month for $3.566 million.
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Leisha Williams of Real Estate Network Financial holds the listing.