Marina Acton is a rich, obscure Ukrainian-born woman with dreams of becoming a famous pop singer, but her real talent lies in press strategy. Last year, Acton paid a reported $17.8 million—well over market value—for Kanye and Kim Kardashian West‘s austerely renovated mansion in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles. But there was a catch: a unique term of the real estate deal required Kardashian to hang out with Acton and help promote her music, the Blast reports. After the sale closed last November, the two were photographed partying together and going out to dinner. Kardashian even posted a birthday message to her “beautiful friend Marina.”
Happy Birthday my beautiful friend Marina! pic.twitter.com/d5ngvXBNej
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) December 6, 2017
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At the time, Acton said Kardashian’s personal tour had sold her on the property, and denied any ulterior motives for the purchase. “It’s an artistic house and I want to build a studio there,” she told a TMZ cameraman outside the new friends’ dinner summit. “It has nothing to do with celebrity status, absolutely not.” She called the 9,000 square foot home “inspiring,” but apparently it didn’t work out: TMZ reported yesterday that Acton has re-listed the house for $18 million just over six months later. According to Acton, she’s expecting a baby and needs more space than the six-bedroom, eight-bathroom former Kimye residence can offer.
It’s not clear where Acton got the cash this venture would appear to require. She’s often reported as being a “philanthropist” and wife of billionaire WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton, but Brian has gone so far as calling up blogs to refute the alleged marriage. (Moreover, he appears to be married to someone else, with whom he shares an entirely separate charity.) Marina Acton, meanwhile, appears to have deleted her Facebook page, her Instagram account, and her charity’s website.
The bad news for Marina is that she’s far more convincing as a kooky, obscenely wealthy social climber than as a pop star. Acton “credits Michael Jackson as her main source of inspiration, having listened to his songs as a young girl growing up in Ukraine,” according to a January press release on the occasion of her single “Fantasize,” but musically, the Acton catalog ranks perhaps one step above that of Aubrey O’Day. The truly curious can check out Acton’s bizarre anti-surveillance solidarity song “Stand Up” below.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=JzrtjXF8phU
