Images

Celebrities flee, Hollywood events postponed as wildfires rage in Los Angeles

Celebrities flee, Hollywood events postponed as wildfires rage in Los Angeles

The disaster disrupted several Hollywood events just as the annual awards season was kicking off.
09 Jan, 2025

Jamie Lee Curtis, Mandy Moore, Maria Shriver and other celebrities were among the tens of thousands of people forced to evacuate their homes to escape the out-of-control wildfires burning around Los Angeles.

The largest blaze consumed nearly 12,000 acres in Pacific Palisades, a picturesque neighbourhood between the beach towns of Santa Monica and Malibu that is home to many film, television and music stars.

“Heartbreaking, devastating, beyond belief,” Shriver, a journalist and the former first lady of California when she was married to former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, wrote on X on Wednesday. “Everything is gone. Our neighbourhood, our restaurants.”

“The firefighters have and are doing their best,” Shriver added, “but this fire is massive and out of control.”

The day after actor James Woods evacuated his house in Pacific Palisades, he said, “Every house around us was on fire.”

“We were literally in the exact epicentre of the fire as it started,” Woods, known for roles in Ghosts of Mississippi and Any Given Sunday, told CNN on Wednesday. “There was so much chaos. It was like an inferno.”

The disaster disrupted several Hollywood events just as the annual awards season was kicking off. This weekend’s Critics Choice Awards was delayed by two weeks, and next week’s Oscar nominations announcement was postponed by two days, organisers said.

Strong, dry winds fanned the Palisades blaze, and the area’s narrow, winding streets combined with the rush of thousands of people ordered to evacuate created long delays and traffic jams.

“It is surreal here in Los Angeles,” actor Henry Winkler wrote on X. “It is biblical. So many people have lost everything.”

Oscar winner Curtis said she was safe but “my community and possibly my home is on fire.”

“It is a terrifying situation,” Curtis wrote on Instagram. “Pray if you believe in it and even if you don’t, pray for those who do.”

Mandy Moore, known for the television series This is Us, said she and her family had evacuated because of the proximity of the flames.

“So gutted for the destruction and loss,” she wrote on Instagram. “Don’t know if our place made it.”

Pacific Palisades is bordered by the Pacific Ocean and buffeted by the Santa Monica Mountains. With its median home price of $4.5 million, it is home to celebrities as well as the Getty Villa, one of the most popular museums in Los Angeles.

Several other fires — along with the Palisades blaze — were burning around the city. Film permits were revoked in Pasadena and other areas east of Los Angeles at the request of fire officials, according to permitting organization FilmLA.

Production of TV shows including Jimmy Kimmel Live and Grey’s Anatomy was halted on Wednesday, and several film premieres were called off. City authorities also blocked public access to the famous Hollywood sign in the hills above Los Angeles.

Actor Mark Hamill, known for playing Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars films, said the blaze was the “most horrific” since 1993. He said on Instagram that he evacuated his home in Malibu on Tuesday evening with his wife and dog.

“There (were) small fires on both sides of the road as we approached,” the Pacific Coast Highway, he said.

Other Hollywood celebrities who lost their homes include Leighton Meester and Adam Brody, Paris Hilton, Anna Faris, Billy Crystal, Diane Warren, Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag, Variety reported.

Hilton, in an Instagram post, said, “Sitting with my family, watching the news, and seeing our home in Malibu burn to the ground on live TV is something no one should ever have to experience. This home was where we built so many precious memories.”

She added that her 11:11 Media Impact Team was reaching out to nonprofit organisations to figure out how to best support the communities impacted by the fires, and urged people to follow evacuation orders.

Warren, a songwriter, said, “I’ve had this house for almost 30 years. It looks like it was lost in the fire last nite.”

Kate Beckinsale, known for her roles in Van Helsing and Underworld, in an Instagram post, said, “Hearing the winds last night I prayed. I knew it would be bad — we had to evacuate many times during our life there — but the shock at the whole of the Palisades being destroyed is unthinkably horrific.”

Comments

Saleha Khan Jan 09, 2025 12:38pm
Now think about Gaza how people are being killed and millions lost their homes
Recommend
Asad Jan 09, 2025 02:27pm
@Saleh Khan how is that even related? Do you think about all the malnourished children in Thar in Sindh and Awaran in Balochistan when you heap up your dishes at weddings? Do you think about all the women in Afghanistan locked up inside their houses not able to even whisper outside?
Recommend
Peace for all Jan 09, 2025 05:01pm
Hollywood Celebrities lost everything except death in wild fire similarly people in Gaza lost their lives and homes in thousands by Israelis troops.
Recommend
Laila Jan 09, 2025 06:02pm
It's a reminder how certain things remain beyond human control. Every now and then humans are shown there is somebody mightier and in full control of all things. Despite all the money, insurance, precautions these homes could not be saved. I don't know, why people even buy houses there with risk of wildfires.
Recommend
Laila Jan 09, 2025 06:11pm
@Saleha Khan Or how it feels to be among the 35 millions black Africans currently displaced due to war etc, who lost their lives, homes, families, and where mass killings, brutality and rapes are taking place. Not a word on them from you or mainstream media. Great selective outrage and sympathy.
Recommend
Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Jan 09, 2025 06:31pm
It's just an iota of what has been going on in Palestine in general and the entire helpless, feeble, weak, defenseless and hapless place called Gaza in the Middle East, in particular. Rest as they say is history and when the devastation, destruction and 24/7 bombardment imposed upon the land and people including innocent women and children is going to end in Gaza, Khan Younus, West Bank and other parts of Palestine is still a mystery?
Recommend
Tahmad Jan 09, 2025 07:10pm
Hollywood is being there over 125 years and no such wildfires ever happened as we sees in the last few years, Why…? We need to investigate why such wildfires happening now…? State of California with the help from Federal Government throughly look into this issue and fixed the problem as soon as possible. This wildfire causing millions of dollars lost and jobs lost as well plus tourists visit getting shorter as well.
Recommend
Laila Jan 10, 2025 02:19pm
@Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Actually the wildfires in Malibu have not even an iota to do with the war in Palestine. There is no comparison. In fact your comment has nothing to do with the article. You didn't read the article. Clearly. Also you should invest in a map as there is no specific need to single out Khan Younis when it is part of Gaza. Back to the topic? What do you think of the wildfires?
Recommend
Laila Jan 10, 2025 02:28pm
@Peace for all Nope, there is no similarity. One is a wildfire (a natural catastrophe) and the other is a man made war... It shouldn't be so hard to stay on topic.
Recommend
Laila Jan 10, 2025 02:47pm
@TAhmad Interesting question. My understand is wildfires have been an issue going back at least a century in that region. Some say it's climate change and some argue its structural decisions. What we know is there are lots of strong winds which is what is causing the spread..
Recommend
Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Jan 10, 2025 05:11pm
If strong winds have to be blamed for these wildfires in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., then Chicago, Illinois-U.S.A. as well as Perth, Australia should also be burning being the first and second on the index of top two windiest cities in the world.
Recommend
Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Jan 10, 2025 06:18pm
Regarding the city of Khan Younis, please note that Khan Younis is located in the Southwest part of Gaza and it's a modern city, which is home to several hundred thousand people, making it the second largest urban area after Gaza in the now occupied, invaded, attacked, bombarded, devastated, destroyed, held and annexed territory of Palestine.
Recommend
Laila Jan 11, 2025 12:37am
@Asad It's because we dont care about our own people. Only Palestine (and occasionally Kashmir, when it suits our narrative). Its sad, isn't it? An article about wildfires, but they talk about Palestine. Apples and oranges. It's mind boggling, how some people can have such poor reading and comprehension skills. Selective outrage and deflection, that's all they can do. Charity in islam starts at home first. Thank you for your sensible and empathic comment.
Recommend