Kat Von D hits back after being accused of causing Hollywood castle fire that killed her cat

A man has accused Kat Von D of causing a devastating fire that tore through his late mother's home in the Hollywood Hills due to her 'negligence'.

Teva Barnea, 30, said he wanted to hold the celebrity tattoo artist 'truly accountable' for her actions, which he alleges contributed to his mum Deborah's ailing health prior to her passing away after battling cancer.

Von D - real name Katherine von Drachenberg - has hit back at the grieving son, insisting the blaze that killed her pet cat and sent her belongings up in smoke was not her fault.

In a video shared to TikTok earlier this month, which has racked up nearly 10million views, Barnea shared his version of events about how the lavish property dubbed 'The Hollywood Castle' was left in ruins after a fire in 2010.

The content creator claimed that he had been sitting on the information since his childhood, while his mother had allegedly been bound by an NDA - which he says he didn't have to sign due to his age at the time.

He told his 92,500 followers that Von D had began renting the home in 2008 and everything was 'fine' to begin with, however, he recalled that she had a noticeable affinity for candles.

"One time I was here with my parents and I got to meet her," Barnea said. "I saw the way that she lived, and it was bizarre. There were candles everywhere."

"Candles of all sizes – big, small, wide, every single corner, every mantle, down the steps, along the walls - really everywhere. Along with taxidermy, like a wolf just standing in a bedroom looking at you and animal heads on walls. Shocker, the house burned. There was a ginormous fire that took place."

Barnea claimed the inferno caused excessive damage to the gothic pad, including 'holes throughout the hardwood floors and smoke damage in the entire home', adding: "The only reason that it stood was because it's made from stone."

In what he described as a bid to 'avoid a trial' and receive some compensation, he alleged that Deborah later reached a settlement with makeup guru Von D. Barnea claimed that his mum had to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) as part of the deal, forbidding her from discussing the fire.

Barnea claimed that 'arson investigators declared that it was a candle fire', before discussing the impact that he believes the whole ordeal had on his mother.

"I want to be abundantly clear about something: my mom passed due to cancer," he continued. "Our family believes that the stress of the fires and the restoration process and the lawsuit is truly what brought it back with such vengeance. When you have to deal with people like this, it really does strip off years and I believe that I watched that happen with my own mom in real time."

After Barnea's video went viral, Von D also took to TikTok to share her response to the shocking allegations, which she insists are baseless.

"This week, I've been accused of burning down a house and contributing to the death of a woman with cancer," the 44-year-old said. "I want to be as respectful as I can in this video, but it's also very hard not to be disheartened by this man's accusations."

She claimed that an 'electrical fire' was what destroyed Barnea's family home, which supposedly began in the basement due to 'faulty wires' - which the star alleges she had previously raised concerns to Deborah about.

Von D said she was 'not even in the home when the fire happened' as she was travelling for a book tour, while insisting the claims that she forced the homeowner to sign an NDA is 'not true'.

"I can't imagine what it would be like to lose a mother that you're so close with, but at the same time, I didn't set the house on fire," Von D said. "This was a tragedy and it was out of both of our controls, and I would never wish that on anybody."

The mother-of-one went on to say that 'no one came out of this situation unscathed', pointing out that she lost her personal possessions and her beloved pet cat Valentine.

She said: "I am very fully aware that she lost her home; I lost the home that I lived in. The fire took everything from me. I literally had nothing. I lost all my clothes, my computers, my hard drives, all my photos. There's a massive gap [of] my life that just went up in flames.

"Most importantly, my little kitten Valentine was in the house when the fire happened. The firefighters told me that thankfully she didn't burn alive, I would hate to imagine that she suffered that way. They found her in my bed and she was asleep, so most likely the smoke inhalation killed her. It was traumatic for everybody."

Both parties claim to have 'proof' of their version of events.

Barnea inherited the property, which has often been used as a filming location for movies, from Deborah in wake of her death and has been restoring the home. He has since shared other videos in response to Von D's rebuttal.

LADbible has contacted both Von D and Barnea for comment.