Among thousands of Angelenos displaced by fires, celebrities face the same devastating losses
- Share via
The historic wildfires blazing across Los Angeles County have wiped out thousands of structures, killed at least 25 people and left countless residents reeling. Given the fabric of the communities in and around L.A., celebrities are among those facing loss.
Update:
12:24 p.m. Jan. 13, 2025This story was updated Monday with additional names and information on the status of homes.
In one of the most destructive firestorms to hit the region in recent memory, at least 130,000 Angelenos have fled for safety as fires — stoked by worse-than-usual “life-threatening and destructive” winds — rampaged in the Pacific Palisades, Hollywood Hills, Altadena and on the border of Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
“We are absolutely not out of the danger yet,” Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley said Thursday.
From Mandy Moore to Chrissy Teigen and John Legend, stars have have been speaking out about their evacuation efforts, loss of property and efforts to help fire victims. While they, like so many Angelenos, remain displaced, firefighters continue to battle the blazes that have erupted since Tuesday.
Paris Hilton
“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,” the DJ, reality TV star and heiress wrote on Instagram as the Palisades fire continued to burn with no containment last Wednesday. “This home was where we built so many precious memories. It’s where Phoenix took his first steps and where we dreamed of building a lifetime of memories with London.
“While the loss is overwhelming, I’m holding onto gratitude that my family and pets are safe. My heart and prayers are going out to every family affected by these fires. To all the people who have lost their homes, their memories, and their beloved pets. My heartaches for those still in harm’s way or mourning greater losses. The devastation is unimaginable. To know so many are waking up today without the place they called home is truly heartbreaking. ... Please, everyone, stay safe and follow evacuation orders. Let’s protect one another and hold onto hope that these fires will soon be contained.🙏 Sending so much love and strength to all of you. We’re in this together, LA. ... Hug your loved ones a little tighter tonight. You never know when everything could change.”
On Thursday, Hilton returned to the site of her beach house and posted a video of the wreckage. She said the “heartbreak is truly indescribable.”
“[S]tanding here and seeing it with my own eyes, it feels like my heart has shattered into a million pieces,” she wrote. “What breaks my heart even more is knowing that this isn’t just my story. So many people have lost everything. It’s not just walls and roofs — it’s the memories that made those houses homes. It’s the photos, the keepsakes, the irreplaceable pieces of our lives.”
The fires in L.A. have caused terrible air quality conditions across the county. Here are ways you can protect yourself, and your children, from the health impacts of wildfire smoke.
Mandy Moore
“I love you, Altadena,” the “This Is Us” star wrote Wednesday on Instagram as she drove through her community, which was struck by the Eaton fire. “Grateful for my family and pets getting out last night before it was too late (and endless gratitude to friends for taking us in and bringing us clothes and blankets). 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. Sending love to all affected and on the front lines trying to get this under control.”
Moore returned to the site of home she shares with husband, musician Taylor Goldsmith, on Thursday and said “miraculously, the main part of our house is still standing.”
“For now. It’s not livable but mostly intact,” she wrote, sharing images of the rubble. “We lost Taylor and griffin’s studio with every instrument and piece of equipment they’ve ever owned. We lost our garage and back house. Everyone we know lost everything. Every house on our street is gone. My in laws. My brother and sister in law- 6 weeks from welcoming their first baby. Our best friends. Feeling weird survivors guilt. We love this community and will do everything we can to help rebuild and support. Thanks for everyone for checking on us and offering us help. Altadena strong.”
The latest updates from the L.A. County Arboretum, Villa Aurora and more as wildfires continue to damage or threaten cultural institutions across a vast expanse of Southern California.
Milo Ventimiglia
Moore’s “This Is Us” co-star — whose TV character died from smoke inhalation after a house fire — told CBS News that he and his pregnant wife, Jarah, were evacuated Tuesday and watched footage of their house going up in flames on their security camera.
“You know, it’s not lost on me, life imitating art,” Ventimiglia said. “We got good friends, and we got good people we’re working with and we’ll make do. Wife and baby and dog, most important.”
Anna Faris
“The House Bunny” and “Mom” star’s home burned down, but the actor and her family were unharmed, People reported Wednesday. Faris and her family “are safe and very grateful,” her representative told the outlet after reports about her property’s destruction.
Mel Gibson
“Braveheart” star Gibson was in Austin, Texas, for an interview with podcast host Joe Rogan when the Palisades fire broke out and his $14.5-million Malibu mansion went up in flames. He said he returned to “nothing.”
“It is, obviously, it’s kind of devastating. It’s emotional, you know, you live there for a long time and you had all your stuff ... I’ve been relieved from the burden of my stuff because it’s all in cinders,” the Oscar winner joked Thursday on NewsNation’s “Elizabeth Vargas Reports,” quoting late comedian George Carlin.
“These are only things. And the good news is that, you know, those in my family and those I love are all well, and we’re all happy and healthy and out of harm’s way, that’s all I can care about, really,” Gibson said.
“[I was] kind of ill at ease while we were talking [on Rogan’s podcast], because I knew my neighborhood was on fire, so I thought, I wonder if my place is still there. When I got home, sure enough, it wasn’t there. I went home and I said to myself, well, at least I haven’t got any of those pesky plumbing problems anymore.”
Billy Crystal
“Words cannot describe the enormity of the devastation we are witnessing and experiencing,” Billy Crystal and his wife, Janice, said in a joint statement to the Associated Press about their Pacific Palisades home.
“We ache for our friends and neighbors who have also lost their homes and businesses in this tragedy. Janice and I lived in our home since 1979. We raised our children and grandchildren here. Every inch of our house was filled with love. Beautiful memories that can’t be taken away. We are heartbroken of course but with the love of our children and friends we will get through this.”
Eugene Levy
“Schitt’s Creek” actor Eugene Levy, the honorary mayor of Pacific Palisades, found himself stuck on the road as he tried to flee the community.
“The smoke looked pretty black and intense over Temescal Canyon,” Levy said. “I couldn’t see any flames but the smoke was very dark.”
Steve Guttenberg
In what might be the most viral celebrity interview of the fire news cycle, the “Police Academy” star told a KTLA reporter on Tuesday that he had been working to clear abandoned cars on Sunset Boulevard and Palisades Drive in his neighborhood to make a path for fire trucks and emergency vehicles. On Thursday he told The Times that he was returning to survey the damage.
“Sunset Boulevard was a parking lot. Palisades Drive was a two-mile parking lot,” he said about the evacuation. “Before you knew it … everything was on fire — both sides of Palisades Drive, and all the police told people to leave their cars and start walking.”
“People were in hysterics,” he said. “People in wheelchairs, mothers trying to find their kids.”
Cameron Mathison
“General Hospital” star Mathison shared footage from his street showing the destruction that overtook his block in the Pacific Palisades, noting on Instagram stories that “the last property is where our house was.” Mathison showed footage of “what’s left of our beautiful home.”
In an appearance on “Cuomo,” the soap star said his family was safe but the losses had been devastating.
“I’ve never experienced anything like it. It just doesn’t feel real, and I know I’m not alone. I know there’s hundreds, if not thousands, of people out there getting affected by these fires, and it’s very cool to see you kind of touching base with a lot of them to share their stories too,” Mathison said, adding, “That video was taken early in the morning. ... We’d been up, we’d been watching the news, and then I got up around 5, and they were reporting from our block, and I could see houses going down, and it looked insane, but I couldn’t see if our house was OK, and I couldn’t stand it anymore, and I got my car, and I just kind of drove in through the streets. ... I kind of made my way up almost in the dark, and the cloud, like, it was, it was an insane scene. And as I came around the corner, you know what used to be my house, our house, was, was no longer and it is, it doesn’t, doesn’t seem real.”
The Getty Villa activated its emergency operations center at 10:40 a.m. Tuesday, and within two hours, the fast-moving blaze had reached the grounds. Here’s how the staff, museum and precious art were kept safe.
Diane Warren
“This is the last pic I took of Leah’s rock from my beach house,” the Grammy-winning songwriter wrote Wednesday on Instagram, sharing a photo from a Malibu beach amid the Palisades fire. “I’ve had this house for almost 30 years. It looks like it was lost in the fire last nite. There’s a rainbow shining on it which I’m taking as a sign of hope for all creatures who have been affected by this tragedy. The animals and the rescue ranch are OK tho which is the most important thing. Stay safe everyone.”
Days after losing her home, Warren reminisced over the weekend about her coastal view and about “the songs [through] the years I worked on here and some crazy memories.”
Melissa Rivers
Rivers, a TV personality and the daughter of famed comic Joan Rivers, told CNN that she fled her Palisades-area home on Wednesday and took whatever she could, including her mother’s Daytime Emmy Award for “The Joan Rivers Show.”
“Luckily, my office which is in — was in — my home... [I grabbed] whatever was there,” Melissa Rivers said. “In my personal situation, that’s it, that’s the end of everything that belonged to my family and the history of it. To be 100% honest, I grabbed my mom’s Emmy, a photo of my dad, and a drawing that my mother had done of me and my son ... It’s amazing what you grab, it’s amazing what you take. I went for a drawing of my mother’s rather than a photo because I know I can find the photos. [But a drawing of hers] I can’t replace.”
Cary Elwes
“Update from the fire. Firstly, myself and my family are all safe, thank God,” the star of “The Princess Bride” wrote Wednesday on Instagram after the Palisades fire broke out. “Sadly we did lose our home but we are grateful to have survived this truly devastating fire. Our hearts go out to all the families impacted by this tragic event and we also wish to extend our gratitude to all the firefighters, first responders and law enforcement who worked so tirelessly through the night and are still at it. We want to thank everyone for the incredible outpouring of support. It really means a great deal to us.”
Ricki Lake
“It’s all gone. I can’t believe I am typing these words,” the former talk-show host wrote Wednesday on Instagram, sharing the loss of her “dream home.” “After a valiant and brave effort by our friend and hero @kirbykotler_ Ross and I lost our dream home. This description ‘dream home’ doesn’t suffice. It was our heaven on earth. The place where we planned to grow old together. We never took our heavenly spot on the bluff overlooking our beloved malibu for granted, not even for one second. I shared our sunset views almost daily with all of you.
“This loss is immeasurable. It’s the spot where we got married 3 years ago. I grieve along with all of those suffering during this apocalyptic event. Praying for all of my neighbors, my friends, my community, the animals, the firefighters and first responders. More to share soon of how we escaped with Dolly and not much else. For now I grieve.”
The former “Ricki Lake Show” host chronicled the evacuation and posted footage Thursday of her escape: “We finally surrendered our efforts and left our home at 8:02 p.m. “Grateful to have made it out alive and uninjured. ... No doubt had we stayed, we would not have survived,” she wrote.
Over the weekend, Lake expressed some optimism as she posted on Instagram about the remnants of her home. “The Palm trees survived!” she captioned a video taken from her courtyard. “I can’t believe it ... And to hear the birds chirping warms my broken heart.”
John Goodman
The “Roseanne” alum’s Pacific Palisades home, which he purchased in 2008, was reduced to ashes, according to the Daily Mail, which obtained images of the property. It’s unclear if Goodman was living there at the time, as he also resides in New Orleans.
Miles Teller
“snapped this driving out,” Teller’s wife Keleigh wrote on Instagram on Thursday, sharing an image showing their Pacific Palisades home with smoke billowing behind it. “To everyone reaching out I can’t thank you enough, your kind hearts have meant the world, I’ll never forget them. Community has come out stronger than I could imagine, pacific palisades I love you beyond measure you are a little slice of heaven, we will come back stronger than ever. If you’re in the LA area PLEASE get out if you can. I wish I grabbed my wedding dress .. wish I did a lot different but it doesn’t matter, stay safe, get out. there are no words. THANK YOU to the first responders fighting.”
According to People, the Tellers’ home was between Palisades Bluffs and Palisades Village.
Bozoma Saint John
“The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star and former chief marketing officer at Netflix said her Malibu home was burned in the Palisades fire.
“This is the house I wanted. The house I prayed for. The house I worked in blood, sweat and tears for. The house that I put a key pad instead of a key hole in the front door because I wanted all my family and friends to have a code and use the house whenever they wanted,” she wrote Thursday on Instagram, sharing images and clips of the property.
“This is the house where I found peace after battling with racist neighbors and a community that made me have to buy it in a trust within a trust so no one would know that widowed, single Black woman with a teenager was buying on the exclusively-held beach. This was my EFF YOU I’m here house. The house that I built a movie room dedicated to my sister so she could see her films in her own sanctuary. This is the house where I finally felt like I could choose to spend time… when I wanted to and how I wanted to. It is gone. This is an unimaginable loss. I grieve with the rest of Los Angeles as it burns … and even though I’ve found even words to write here, there’s nothing that I could say in this moment to describe this feeling.”
Leighton Meester and Adam Brody
“Gossip Girl” alumna Meester, who is married to the “Nobody Wants This” actor, reportedly lost the Pacific Palisades home that they purchased in 2019, according to TMZ and the Daily Mail.
Anthony Hopkins
Hopkins lost his $6-million Pacific Palisades home, the Daily Mail reported. The Oscar winner bought the home in 2001, and photos showed the four-bedroom, five-bath property reduced to rubble.
Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt
The “Hills” alumni “ended up losing our house” in the Palisades to the flames, Montag announced Wednesday. In a series of emotional videos shared on TikTok and Instagram, Montag told followers she yearned for home, detailed her experience “packing up a house” upon evacuation and said she was grateful “we have our health and our children.”
“Just trying to focus on the gratitude,” she said. Pratt, who also confirmed Wednesday “our house burned down,” said in a since-expired Instagram story that his parents’ home also had been destroyed in the fire.
Pratt shared several photos of the remains of his and Montag’s home in a Friday Instagram post, writing, “I keep telling myself possessions don’t define my existence, but it’s hard to accept.”
On Monday Pratt seemed to be looking ahead, telling followers on Instagram he’s excited to eventually buy new houses for his family and his parents as he promotes Montag’s latest album.
Jhené Aiko
Singer Jhené Aiko says she is heartbroken over the loss of her “perfect little Pali dream” as she shared a photo of her coastal home ablaze on Instagram in a since-expired post. “Sorry we couldn’t save you. Thank you for the memories and thank God no one was inside.”
In a separate post, she said her home had “burned to the ground with all of our things.” Though grateful “we still have each other,” the singer said she and her family will be “starting from scratch.”
Over the weekend, Aiko shared a photo of her home ablaze as she condemned the “misinformed blogs” that allegedly shared photos of another home.
Tina Knowles
Knowles, mother of Beyoncé and Solange, said her Malibu bungalow was lost to the wildfire that blazed across the Pacific Palisades and the coast. “It was my favorite place, my sanctuary, my sacred Happy Place. Now it is gone,” she wrote on Instagram.
Jeff Bridges
The Bridges family’s oceanfront residence in Malibu is no more — it was lost in the Palisades fire, the Oscar winner’s representative confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter. The home was purchased by patriarch Lloyd Bridges in the 1950s, then passed down in the late aughts from matriarch Dorothy Bridges to Jeff Bridges, his actor brother Beau and artist sister Cindy.
Richard Cabral
Cabral, who starred in “Mayans M.C.” and is the co-founder of Pasadena’s Tepito Coffee, said “everything [he] owned burned away” mere hours after he evacuated amid the Eaton fire. He also shared photos of the destruction, including a scorched van and the pile of rubble where his family home once stood.
“I’ve worked my whole life to build what I have for my partner and children, but now it is all gone, burned into Ash.”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
The “Veep” and “Seinfeld” star’s home in Pacific Palisades was also among the residences destroyed during the ongoing fires, the Daily Mail reported. Neither Louis-Dreyfus nor her husband, comedian Brad Hall, have publicly commented on the loss.
John C. Reilly
“Step Brothers” and “Chicago” star John C. Reilly’s Altadena home is reportedly among the properties that have been reduced to rubble in the past week. Photos published by the Daily Mail show the two-bedroom, two-bath home had been leveled by the fire.
Jamie Chung and Bryan Greenberg
Chung and Greenberg, known for “Lovecraft Country” and “The Mindy Project,” respectively, said Friday that their family was safe but mourned the loss of what “was supposed to be our forever home.”
“Nothing lasts forever,” they captioned a shared Instagram video.
Barbara Corcoran
The “Shark Tank” veteran said the Tahitian Terrace Mobile Home Park, her “little slice of heaven,” was “entirely destroyed” during the Palisades fire that has burned through upward of 23,000 acres and ravaged homes and other structures on Pacific Coast Highway and nearby.
In a since-expired Instagram story, Corcoran said Tahitian Terrace was a “place where kindness thrives, friendships are cherished and neighbors become family.”
Evacuations
Tara Lipinski
The Olympic figure skater-turned-TV personality shared photos of her burned-down street and other images from the Palisades fire on Thursday, describing the imagery as “unfathomable.”
“The most important update is that Todd, Georgie, Sully and I are safe. It’s the only thing I have been saying on repeat to myself — that I am so grateful for them and our safety,” Lipinski wrote on Instagram. “But the last 24 hours have been horrific for my family, my neighbors, the firefighters, first responders and for everyone in this community.”
Lipinski said her home “seems to be standing at the moment” but added that she felt for “every house that is burning, for every place that is ashes.”
“The Palisades are unrecognizable, a place that is so special to so many of us.” In a later update, she said she had to leave Santa Monica amid the firestorm. “This all seems so surreal. We woke up to the stench of the fires inside the house. As I took [daughter Georgie] to the car ash was falling on her. Truly awful. We are beyond grateful for a friend who offered her home in Newport. I’ll say it again, I have never felt more supported by so many people through this devastation. Thank you to all the people who have offered.”
Jessica Simpson
“We stayed as long as we could,” the “Irresistible” singer wrote Thursday on Instagram. Simpson accompanied the post with a photo of her Hidden Hills home with smoke from the Kenneth fire billowing behind it and blocking the sun. The performer-turned-fashion designer bought the 11,000-square-foot home, which boasts six bedrooms and 10 bathrooms, from Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne for $11.5 million in 2013.
Jennie Garth
”We are all stunned and afraid and somehow numb,” “Beverly Hills, 90210” star Jennie Garth wrote Thursday. The actor, who said she had to evacuate twice this week, posted images of the burned Palisades community and thanked local news stations and other teams “that keep us informed.”
“[I’m] praying and bringing all the angels to help stop this and to keep us all safe,” Garth said. “I truly love this city. I love its insane beauty, the inspiring people who beautifully collide and form a community with so many different kinds of incredible people. And I love the life it’s given me by allowing me to live here. I’m eternally grateful for every moment of this life and all the people in it. So so grateful. I could do without the fires and floods and earthquakes. The people here are strong and resilient. We will get through this.”
Garth, who shares three children with ex-husband Peter Facinelli, said in a video that they are safe and staying with the “Twilight” actor and his family for the time being.
“So grateful for Peter for letting us stay at his house, me and all the girls and the dogs and Dave,” Garth added. “Our home made it through the night, and we are feeling so blessed and so fortunate and so lucky.”
John Legend and Chrissy Teigen
“This is surreal. I’m very scared now. packing,” Teigen wrote on Instagram stories as the Sunset fire erupted late Wednesday in the Hollywood Hills. “4 dogs. 4 kids and a bearded dragon walk into a hotel,” she added.
Mark Hamill
“Personal Fire Update: 7pm-Evacuated Malibu so last-minute there small fires on both sides of the road as we approached PCH. 8:15 pm- Marilou, Trixie & I arrive at Chelsea’s house in Hollywood Most horrific fire since ‘93 ... STAY SAFE! ... ” the “Star Wars” star wrote Tuesday on Bluesky, later clarifying that “there ‘were’ small fires (gimme a break- we were fleeing for our lives).”
Kid Cudi
“Hey guys, had to evacuate my crib. Im safe, w my loved ones, dogs are safe,” the “Pursuit of Happiness” rapper and “X” actor wrote to fans in an Instagram story. “For all the folks who lost their homes, people that are dealing with this, my heart hurts for you and Im praying for us all and I send ALL my love to you and yours. If you have to evacuate, get out immediately. Dont hesitate. Be safe LA. Love you guys.”
Grimes
“Oblivion” singer Grimes, who has three children with Elon Musk, tweeted that she sought safety at a friend’s home after evacuating Wednesday evening. “This is a serious tragedy for L.A. — I feel profoundly sad for everybody.”
Britney Spears
Britney Spears informed Instagram fans and followers Friday that she left her home amid the blazes and was “driving 4 hours to a hotel!!!” She wrote that she had been unable to charge her phone “the past two days because I had no electricity.”
Deon Cole
For comedian Deon Cole, last week was a “nightmare.” The “Average Joe” star said on Instagram he had to pack his belongings to evacuate amid the fires, shortly after returning home from a hospital stay. He did not specify why he was in the hospital prior to his evacuation.
“As I drove away I seen the fire rising from behind my house,” he wrote, adding he managed to pack “the flowers my mom gave me before she passed.”
Homes spared
Jamie Lee Curtis
The “Everything Everywhere All at Once” Oscar winner on Monday shut down conflicting reports and confirmed on Instagram that her home was not destroyed in the Palisades fire. Last week the “Bear” star announced she and her family will donate $1 million “to relief efforts” and said she has touched base with California leaders including Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
James Woods
The Emmy-winning actor fought back tears on air with CNN while discussing his newly renovated Pacific Palisades home and its evacuation during the Palisades fire. He said he and his wife, Sara Miller-Woods, had returned to the home last month after fixing up the property,
“I took this from the deck of our beautiful and much beloved home in the Palisades last night,” Woods wrote Wednesday on Instagram. “Now all the fire and smoke alarms are going off on our iPhones. It’s truly heartbreaking.”
Woods announced Friday on social media that “a miracle has happened”: His home was “still standing” after he initially shared concern about losing his home. “In this hellish landscape ‘standing’ is relative, but smoke and other damage is not like the utter destruction around us.”
Molly Sims
“This is so overwhelming and painful,” the model and actor wrote Wednesday on Instagram stories, posting footage of a drive through her community in Pacific Palisades, which she said is “just gone.”
“Friends who have lost homes. Schools and playgrounds and places that are so special to our family and so many others. My heart is just hurting so much,” Sims wrote. “Will continue to update as I get info. I know we’ll get through this as a community, and I’m just astounded by the support and love that has been felt in this last day. But please pray for us and our community. We’re touch and go but will list all places to donate soon.” Speaking through tears in another story, Sims said her community was “beyond devastated” and she was waiting to see if her home survived. “It’s just a waiting game.”
On Saturday, Sims had a bittersweet update with followers: “Right now, our home is okay.”
Despite the hopeful news, she wrote that her community has “experienced the UNIMAGINABLE, and my heart is shattered.” She also praised the “strength and unity that has emerged” from Angelenos and the first responders who have been battling the fires.
The biggest entertainment stories
Get our big stories about Hollywood, film, television, music, arts, culture and more right in your inbox as soon as they publish.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
