Celebrity mansions burn down; Jamie Lee Curtis pledges $1 million for LA wildfire relief
LOS ANGELES, USA – Billy Crystal lost the Pacific Palisades house where he had lived since 1979. Paris Hilton watched her Malibu beach mansion burn down on live TV.
The list of celebrities who lost their homes and neighborhoods in the worst fire in Los Angeles history reads like a Hollywood who’s who.
Jamie Lee Curtis, James Woods, Mandy Moore, Mark Hamill, and Maria Shriver were among those who publicly described being forced to evacuate as out-of-control fires swept across some of the most lavish real estate in the world.
The largest blaze consumed nearly 12,000 acres (5,000 hectares) in Pacific Palisades, home to film, television and music stars, where the median house is worth $4.5 million.
Some had yet to comment publicly even as pictures of burning homes said to be theirs were shared by media outlets.
Among them were Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester and her husband Adam Brody of The O.C., two-time Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins, Roseanne star John Goodman, Top Gun: Maverick actor Miles Teller, and Scary Movie star Anna Faris.
Perennial Oscars host Crystal and his wife Janice said they were heartbroken to lose the Pacific Palisades house where they had raised their children and grandchildren, “but with the love of children and friends we will get through this.”
‘Like an inferno’
Media personality Hilton said she was “heartbroken beyond words” to lose her beachfront mansion.
“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,” she wrote on X.
Woods, a two-time Oscar nominee and three-time Emmy winner, recounted how he fled his house in Pacific Palisades as flames bore down “like an inferno.”
“One day you’re swimming in the pool, and the next day it’s all gone,” he said. He teared up in a TV interview as he described a niece who “came out with her little Yeti piggy bank for us to rebuild our house.”
Reality TV star Spencer Pratt posted on X: “The one positive sign I saw as our house burned down was our son’s bed burned in the shape of a heart. A sign of how much love was in this house, so thankful for all the years and memories there with our family.”
Jennifer Grey’s daughter Stella Gregg said the Dirty Dancing star’s house had “burnt to the ground” but Grey and her dog had escaped.
Heartbroken beyond words ???? 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. It’s where Phoenix took his first steps… pic.twitter.com/aeJAgJrymA
— Paris Hilton (@ParisHilton) January 9, 2025
Shriver, a journalist and former first lady of California when she was married to then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, said the destruction in the upscale enclave was devastating.
“Everything is gone. Our neighborhood, our restaurants,” she wrote on X on Wednesday. “The firefighters have and are doing their best, but this fire is massive and out of control.”
Oscar winner Curtis said “my community and possibly my home is on fire.”
“It is a terrifying situation,” the actress wrote on Instagram. “Pray if you believe in it and even if you don’t, pray for those who do.”
Moore, known for television series This is Us and as the voice of Rapunzel in Disney’s Tangled, said she and her family and pets were safe but did not yet know the fate of their house.
“Honestly, I’m in shock and feeling numb for all so many have lost, including my family. My children’s school is gone. Our favorite restaurants, leveled. So many friends and loved ones have lost everything too. Our community is broken but we will be here to rebuild together.”
Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the “Star Wars” films, said on Instagram that he evacuated his Malibu home on Tuesday evening with his wife and dog.
$1 million donation
Curtis said on Thursday her family would donate $1 million to relief efforts.
The Oscar winner said she and her husband, actor and director Christopher Guest, and their children had pledged $1 million to support “our great city and state and the great people who live there.”
Curtis said she was in contact with officials about “where those funds need to be directed for the most impact.”
Her post featured a picture of smoke billowing above the famed Santa Monica Pier.
On Wednesday night, Curtis choked back tears as she described the devastation in the neighborhood of Pacific Palisades during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
“Where I live is on fire right now, literally the entire city of Pacific Palisades is on fire,” she said. “This is literally where I live — everything, the market I shop in, the schools my kids go to. Friends, many, many, many, many, many friends, now have lost their homes.”
“It’s just a catastrophe,” Curtis said.
Awards season
CORE, an aid organization co-founded by Sean Penn, said it was distributing masks and other supplies to help people in areas with poor air quality because of wildfire smoke.
Hacks star Jean Smart called on TV networks to drop plans to televise upcoming Hollywood awards shows and instead donate to wildfire relief and first responders.
“ATTENTION,” the Emmy winner wrote on Instagram. “With ALL due respect during Hollywood’s season of celebration, I hope any of the networks televising the upcoming awards will seriously consider NOT televising them and donating the revenue they would have garnered to victims of the fires and firefighters.”
One upcoming show, the Critics Choice Awards, was postponed by two weeks because of the fires, and next week’s Oscar nominations were delayed by two days. Several film premieres have been canceled, and some TV productions have been paused. – Rappler.com