The family of Tom Petty issued a Twitter thread on the Tom Petty account promising legal action against RR Auction House, which it claimed is auctioning stolen memorabilia that belongs to Petty's family members.
The Twitter thread concludes: "These items have irreplaceable sentimental and educational value for the family and legacy of Tom Petty and we look forward to their safe return."
An article in The Guardian presents RR Auction House's explanation.
RR Auction house currently has more than 40 items of Petty's clothing listed for auction, including jackets, bags, boots, hats and T-shirts. On its website, the auction house claims it acquired the clothes after Petty's first wife, Jane Benyo Petty, lost their family home in Encino to foreclosure in 2015.
The auction house said that when bank JP Morgan took possession of the property, contractors disposed of the contents, which included Petty's clothing. "In February 2023, our consignor purchased these items that the bank discarded," the auction house says on its website, saying it "photo matched" the items to confirm they were worn by Petty.
An attorney for RR Auction House told The Guardian that the company "has been cooperating with the Petty family from the moment they reached out to us just days ago and will happily continue to do so without unnecessary hostile threats of litigation."
RR has pulled the items from auction pending a resolution.
