Melted lawn chairs are visible amid the remnants of a burnt home following the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, California, on January 8, 2025. Officials reported at least five fatalities as wildfires wreak havoc around Los Angeles, with firefighters struggling to manage multiple fast-moving blazes. (Photo by AGUSTIN PAULLIER/AFP via Getty Images)
OAN Staff James Meyers 11:45 AM – Thursday, January 9, 2025
Notable figures in Hollywood have begun to express their discontent with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass due to the inadequate response to wildfires wreaking havoc in the celebrity-heavy Pacific Palisades and neighboring areas.
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Leading the criticism, actress Sarah Michelle Gellar took to Instagram to call out the Democratic leadership for failing to properly guide the tens of thousands of residents attempting to evacuate.
🚨CELEBRITIES TURN ON DEMOCRATIC LEADERS OVER LA WILDFIRE RESPONSE
Hollywood stars are criticizing Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Newsom for their management of the devastating wildfires affecting Southern California.
“City of LA, you want everyone to evacuate yet have total gridlock and not a single traffic officer on the roads to assist,” Gellar stated, tagging Bass and the city of Los Angeles.
The Palisades Fire has devastated the celebrity-studded neighborhood since Tuesday, scorching an astonishing 17,234 acres (approximately 27 square miles) in just a day and a half.
Actor James Woods, who has lost his home to the Palisades Fire, expressed on X that the wildfires were not a result of “climate change” but due to “liberal idiots like Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass.”
JAMES WOODS: “If it is true that Gavin Newsom is the utter blithering idiot I believe he is in how he has dealt with fire management in this state… this is the kind of negligence that leads to tribunals.” pic.twitter.com/D6c2qsTHKo
“One doesn’t grasp the essentials of fire management and the other can’t keep the water reservoirs filled,” he continued.
In a follow-up post, Woods shared, “I captured this last night from our lovely little home in the Palisades. Now all the fire alarms are triggering simultaneously from a distance. Losing everything at once truly tests one’s soul, I must admit.”
I captured this last night from our lovely little home in the Palisades. Now all the fire alarms are triggering simultaneously from a distance.
Actress Sarah Foster also voiced her discontent on X, asserting that despite residents in Los Angeles paying high taxes, the state was ill-prepared to combat such enormous wildfires.
We pay the highest taxes in California. Our fire hydrants were dry. Our vegetation was overgrown, brush was not cleared. Our reservoirs were depleted by our governor for fish preservation. Our fire department’s budget got slashed by our mayor. But thankfully drug…
“Our fire hydrants were dry. Our vegetation was overgrown, with brush not cleared. Our reservoirs were drained by our governor to protect fish due to tribal requests. Our fire department received budget cuts from our mayor. But thank heavens drug addicts are getting their drug kits,” she wrote.
Foster, well-known for her political activism and as the daughter of music mogul David Foster, called for the resignations of Bass and Governor Gavin Newsom (R-Calif.), stating, “Your extreme left policies have devastated our state. And also our party.”
Other celebrities, including Paris Hilton, Billy Crystal, and Anthony Hopkins, revealed that they lost their homes in the catastrophic fires.
Hilton shared on social media that she watched her beachfront Malibu property burn down live on television, while Crystal and his wife, Janice, disclosed that their residence of 45 years had been destroyed.
The backlash follows a week of evacuations as a series of fires have decimated Los Angeles, with Santa Ana winds reaching over 100 miles per hour in the Palisades, Eaton, and nearby regions.
As of Thursday morning, five fires, three of which were fully uncontained, have consumed nearly 30,000 acres (about 47 square miles) in Los Angeles County.
Specifically, the Palisades Fire has scorched over 17,000 acres (around 26.5 square miles) and forced tens of thousands to evacuate.
Moreover, officials have reported that at least five fatalities occurred as a result of the wildfires.
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