Publicist: Only 2 signed photos of White House party crashers find buyers even after discount

Sale of signed Salahi photos fetches just 2 buyers

LOS ANGELES — Only two people opened their wallets to welcome home photos signed by the Washington, D.C., couple who allegedly crashed a White House state dinner.

After more than two weeks on the market, just the pair of autographed photos from among 200 showing Michaele and Tareq Salahi have been purchased in an online sale, publicist Kenny Fried said.

The photos were originally priced at $100 in the eBay sale but later slashed to $50 after the first week of the sale yielded no buyers, he said.

Fried said the couple, who are on Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of D.C.,” signed the photos Sept. 22 to help recoup a debt owed to his public relations firm for services provided to Tareq Salahi’s Americas Polo Cup Inc., which filed for bankruptcy Sept. 13.

Fried said he has left the sale up but isn’t sure what he will do if the other photos don’t sell online.

“There’s 198 left,” he said. “We might use them for wallpaper.”

The recent auction of the red sari that Michaele wore last year to the White House faired better. James Packard-Gomez, co-owner of the salon where the Salahis primped before showing up at the state dinner for India, bought the infamous gown from The Potomack Co. for $7,000.

The auction house said the Salahis want 80 percent of that sale’s proceeds to go to charity.

The couple’s infamous trip to the glitzy White House event is currently playing out on “The Real Housewives of D.C.” In last week’s episode, Michaele was shown searching for — and not finding — an invitation to the state dinner.

In a preview for this week’s installment, Tareq said it was “crazy ridiculous” to suggest that the pair crashed the White House.

Online:

www.salahiphoto.com/