Salma Hayek is currently promoting both Eternals and House of Gucci. I imagine either of those movies would be fun to promote so to do both at the same time must be a blast. Plus Salma is at the point in her career that she’s established enough, she can talk about whatever she wants. So while she was on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, the subject turned to all things spooky. After the two ladies shared their love of scaring other people, Ellen asked Salma about her haunted home in London. Salma said enough weird things had happened that some of her staff threatened to quit. Her family was divided. Her husband, François-Henri Pinault, thought the whole ghostly business was nonsense. Salma claimed she saw some stuff, but not much. Her 14-year-old daughter Valentina, however, said she got the bulk of the ghosts’ attention. So Salma hired a ghost exterminator to ask the spirits to leave but that ended up freaking everyone out even more.
Salma Hayek has a ghost problem in her London home!
“It was haunted I think…It is not [anymore], not like before definitely,” Salma said during an appearance on The Ellen Show.
“I didn’t see this but some bodyguard didn’t want to work there anymore because the piano played by itself…Lights go on and off. The doors and the windows open and close. I’ve seen some of it. A lot of other people in the house have seen it,” Salma explained.
Salma’s 14-year-old daughter Valentina noted that she got it “the worst” and has even seen the ghosts on a couple of occasions.
“I said, ‘Look, I’m going to bring in somebody.’ Even if it’s not true, at least they might psychologically think it’s over,” Salma shared.She continued, “Oh my goodness. So he came…and he starts going through the house and is like, ‘Yeah there’s an old lady here and a child’ and this and that. Everybody’s like freaking out even more. It’s worse because he found like 20 [ghosts].”
And while he was successfully able to get rid of a majority of the ghosts, there were a few who just didn’t want to leave — one of which particularly concerned Valentina.
“He’s like, ‘She’s a nun…You know what I found her doing? She was praying. She was here longer than you and she’s not telling me to get rid of you…[You paid me] to get rid of the bad vibes. She has good vibes. She stays,'” Salma recounted.
This reminds me of Sting and his haunted house. Most people don’t believe in the unexplainable until they’ve encountered it. Even then, it’s up to the person to quantify their experience. Every time I go to London – anywhere in England – I feel spirits all over the place. I have no doubt they’re hanging out everywhere. The only place I felt a more ghostly presence was in France.* My guess is François actually accepts ghosts readily, he just doesn’t get why everyone is making such a fuss. I love Salma’s whole haunted house story, but my favorite part is Valentina arguing with the Ghost Whisperer over the nun. And good for him for sticking up for Sister Specter! But Salma said two ghosts got to stay after the others were ejected. I wonder who the other was?
The ghosts should help with Salma’s love of scaring people, though. Salma admitted that as much as she likes to scare, she doesn’t like being scared. I must draw the line here; you can’t have it both ways. My husband is not a fan of being scared and he never intentionally scares anyone. I, on the other hand, love to scare people (and pets). But I’m fine being scared. And because I scare so easily, I’m always the target. So yes, my nerves are shot, but you gotta walk the walk, right?
*okay, maybe Rome was the place I felt the most ghostly presence. That place is teeming with spirits.
Here is Salma’s segment on her haunted London home:
Photo credit: Avalon Red, Instagram and Ellen Tube
I love a good ghost story! More ghostly gossip, please!
Ooooh!!! Have you checked out Jezebel’s annual scary story contest? They are supposed to be true stories and while some obviously aren’t, I bet most are. Such joy when those stories come out every year! The best!
Jezebel’s scary stories is the best! I save the links every year so I can go back to them. I submitted a sweet ghost story a few years ago and it was so much fun to share!
There are a lot of Native spirits here in Oklahoma.
Edinburgh Scotland is where I’ve felt the most ‘ghostly’ presence.
There were some places that felt threatening where I saw things changing shape and it creeped me out (like the ‘face’ on a sunburst wall plaque morphing into an actual face that did not look happy or friendly) or just had a sense of bad vibes. My friends and I left those places pretty quickly, though there was one friend who would poo poo it until a few minutes later they were like “okay let’s go… NOW!” then refused to talk about what changed their mind LOL!
Other places had a really lovely sense to them, a good vibe, even if it happened to be the dark of night when we were there or passing through. For example there were areas of Holyrood Park that seemed to have such a sense of peace and welcoming and safety, beyond what I’ve felt from just being in a beautiful natural space with great views.
I’ve seen spirit figures elsewhere a couple of times, years ago, in one of those ‘minds eye’ wait what’s that moments… when I wasn’t in a spiritual state of mind, like one time I was walking through the lobby at work on the way to a meeting- larger than people, still and watchful … based on my upbringing I figured they were angels watching over a place or the people in it. It felt like a glimpse of something that’s always there that we mortals aren’t aware of / can’t see.
That said I would not want to live somewhere with an active spiritual presence making itself known. I’ve got enough going on in my life that I need home to be calm and not have things moving around or entities moving through walls.
Oh, yes! Edinburgh is one of my favourite cities in the world – so beautiful. But there are a few places (particularly Mary Kings Close) where your hairs raise up.
I love that city! Can’t wait to visit again:)
I’m from Europe, but I felt that Philadelphia was inhabited by many spirits.
Especially as I walked on the seashore. It was so particular but very soothing also. I will never forget Philadelphia for this reason.
I believe that spirits are everywhere also, but they are especially visiting the places that they have been in, in another life.
Hampstead Heath in England is another place with such a strong spiritual energy. It’s also a beautiful park.
I lived in a house with a ghost that lit candles at night and walked up and down the stairs all night. It was a bit annoying.
I have lived and worked in haunted places. Here’s one experience I had–
I worked in a group home in Lowell, Massachusetts that was haunted. I would hear footsteps walk down the upstairs hallway in the middle of the night. When I would go over to the stairs, I heard the steps walk back. None of my clients were awake. The ghost seemed to become more active when it got reactions. It got pretty bothersome, cold rushing past, noise, etc. I went to library to find out about the house and found over hundred years ago, a man distraught over his failing health committed suicide.
The next night I worked, he started up again. I felt empowered by knowing his story and name so I said out loud, “John, I know who you are and I am tired of you bothering me. Please stop.”
I was never bothered by him again.
Glastonbury in England is a very creepy town, supposedly. It has lots of lay lines and the wind is funny and the physical geography makes it seem very gloomy and claustrophobic. It freaks people out.
Am from Edinburgh in Scotland and, unlike the previous poster, have never had a spooky moment there in my life. Culloden battlefield on the other hand, is chilling.
I concur. I live in Glastonbury and my B&B is haunted, and it’s on Abbey ground which is likely haunted too. We don’t have bad spirits but they are definitely here. Haunted pub too. Lots of energy. If you like this kinda stuff it’s a fun place.
Please don’t scare your pets, that’s just cruel.
Agreed.
+200
Your pets rely on you to be their safe place
Don’t betray that by scaring them
If you want a funny take on a situation like that, BBC’s Ghosts is really great.
I have some experiences in random places, but the old 1600s town I went to high school in is loaded. There’s an old prison, and lots of stores and restaurants have stories. 2 friends who lived in town both had very haunted houses.
Ghosts is an awesome show! I binged it in 2 days, it was so funny. My parents, who aren’t avid tv watchers, binged it! If you’re looking for fairly family friendly comedy, check it out!
Is there a way to watch that version in the States? We have been watching the American version, a reasonable place holder while What We Do In The Shadows is gearing up to film its fourth season.
I watched it on HBO Max.
Highly recommend it!
I third this. It’s ridiculously funny but there are moments of real poignancy. The Christmas special had me very misty-eyed.
Ellen DeGeneres still has a show???
Grew up in a haunted house in NY. When I was 8 years old, I saw a woman in white floating near my bed. My parents remedied it by getting me a night light. Lol I heard someone walking up and down the stairs at night and in the hallway. I also saw a man’s floating head. In my adult life, I have more recently felt a cold hand on my arm when I was trying to sleep that freaked me out.
In my 20’s, a boyfriend at the time was visiting my parents for the first time and he saw the woman in white on his way to the bathroom. We have since broke up, but are good friends and he tells the story to this day. NY is very haunted.
LOVE SALMA!! She is just the best – so vibrant, so sexy, so strong, and no BS! She stood up to Harvey Weinstein – he called her a ballbuster. HIGH PRAISE INDEED!! Her daughter is a very beautiful young lady, too!
Her daughter is definitely beautiful. Hopefully she is growing up to be into culture as much as her parents are.
How are people so irrational… low blood sugar? What’s the explanation here?
It’s interesting that her daughter is getting the lion’s share of ghostly attention. Poltergeists (it means “noisy spirits”) are mischievous and usually attracted to the energy of young people. When I was 15 my family and I went to England. We were staying in an old B&B just south of the Scottish border and my room was at the top of the stairs and the only room on that floor. After I went to bed, something kept slapping the bed really hard, like an open hand, so I’d turn the light on but nobody was there. It happened so many times that night I finally ran down to my parents’ room and slept on the pull-out couch. In the morning we spoke to the owner about the disturbance and she said “Oh yes, we know, that room seems to have the most ghostly activity” like it was no big deal!
I’ve been involved in paranormal research most of my life (hence the “paranormalgirl” screen name. My top 3 most haunted cities/towns are:
Kinsale, Ireland
Savannah, Georgia
Bucharest, Hungary
Ooooh, you probably have quite a few stories up your sleeve
Ugh, Bucharest ROMANIA. Sheesh, LOL. I swear, I’m scatterbrained sometimes, but not that geographically challenged.
Bucharest or Budapest? Bucharest is the capital of Romania (unless there is one in Hungary as well) and as far as I know a really “haunted” city. Don’t know about Budapest. Probably too 🙂
@ paranormal girl: sorry, didn’t refresh the page and saw your comment only after I posted.
The Caribbean can be spooky too. Lots of wars fought between European countries for possession of the island or with Natives or slave rebellions. There’s an old barracks near me where multiple people have seen injured soldiers walking around looking terrified.
The Queen Mary cruise ship in Long Beach harbor, California. It feels like you’re breathing ghosts.
I love Salma’s white suit and her daughter has grown into a lovely, young woman. About the ghost stories. . . who the eff knows. As we’ve found out in the last two years, it’s a crazy, crazy world.
My husband and I toured the Eastern State Penitentiary in daylight, and we both found the vibe incredibly oppressive and negative. Could not wait to leave.
I have said in another post that I grew up in a haunted house and our former place was off the charts active but our current home is not, mores the pity.
I have been on ghost hunts that were a total bust and most are “ok that may or may not be something” but there’s one I went on that to this day gives me the shakes just thinking about it. It affected one person so badly that they went to a priest for help.
England and Scotland have always been on my bucket list for ghost central especially with the history
The daughter is adorable. Wonder if Salma runs all her interviews / talking points over with her husband’s people for approval? They’re basically the public face of his many brands.
Really enjoy these ghost posts and the comments they bring out so thanks to the writer Hecate. (I just went and read the Sting post and wow, Hecate, your experience with ghosts is extensive and interesting!) The UK yields so many of these stories. Didn’t know France was a hotspot too. We’re all living in a multidimensional universe and materialism is a lie. Some people who meditate a lot can start seeing into the other dimensions and all the different entities that live in the realities that are all around us. Don’t think there’s anything to fear from ghosts and negative entities per se as long as you keep your own energy levels up. Those who can see into other dimensions say very sad people with low emotional energy tend to attract parasitic entities that drain their energy without killing them and when they make that emotional shift, those things fall/fly away. Having said that, wouldn’t want to live in a house with ghosts roaming around as others have commented. Too distracting.