Owner of A Christmas Story House calls actor ‘a scammer and a loser’

CLEVELAND — A Christmas Story House & Museum owner Brian Jones confronted actor Yano Anaya outside the Cleveland tourist attraction recently, accusing him of being a “scam artist” and a “loser.” The confrontation was captured on video and shared by Tmz.com.

Anaya played Grover Dill in the original 1983 “A Christmas Story” movie and has a role the new HBO sequel, “A Christmas Story Christmas.” He created a bit of a stir in the media recently by claiming that cast members want to buy the house and several surrounding properties in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood.

Jones, who has operated the house and several surrounding properties as a tourist attraction since 2006, recently put them up for sale, listing them with Hoff & Leigh, a Fairlawn-based commercial real estate firm. Jones and Hoff & Leigh have both said they are not in talks with any of the actors/cast from “A Christmas Story,” to buy the properties.

Anaya was sitting on the front steps of the main house when the confrontation took place.

“Don’t ever come here again,” shouted Jones. “What is wrong with you man? You are such a scammer . ... I’ll never sell it to you. What a scammer and loser this guy is. What is wrong with you guys?”

As Anaya backed away from the property, he responded, “I want everybody to know I love Brian Jones, no matter what.”

In a statement sent to Cleveland.com, Jones apologized for the way he confronted Anaya but said “it was out of concern that fans could be misled into contributing to a Go Fund Me campaign that will not result in the purchase of the house.”

There is a Go Fund Me campaign online seeking money to purchase the house, but it is unclear if Anaya has any involvement in it. Cleveland.com reached out to Anaya for comment.

TMZ quoted an individual named Emmanuel Soba, identified as Anaya’s “business partner,” as saying that a volunteer with “A Christmas Story Family” fan group created the Go Fund Me page. Soba told TMZ that the Go Fund Me campaign was never active.

But Jones says he doesn’t want fans to be duped.

“I have no association with any Go Fund Me campaign,” he said in his statement. “I am not selling the house through Go Fund Me, so fans should not contribute to that fund under false pretenses, thinking their money is going toward buying the house. I am entertaining offers only from qualified buyers through my real estate broker.”