LOS ANGELES — Fires burning in and around Los Angeles have claimed the homes of numerous celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Jeff Bridges and R&B star Jhené Aiko.
Thousands of structures have been destroyed, but damage assessments are just beginning. More than 180,000 people are also under evacuation orders in the metropolitan area, from the Pacific Coast inland to Pasadena.
Celebrities such as Crystal and his wife, Janice, lost their home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood that they lived in for 45 years.
“Janice and I lived in our home since 1979,” the Crystals wrote in the statement. “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.”
After learning her Pacific Palisades home was lost in the fires, Melissa Rivers said she was grateful her family was safe but devastated by “losing pieces of my family’s history.”
Mandy Moore’s home in the Altadena neighborhood roughly 30 miles east of the Palisades is severely damaged and unlivable, but she said Thursday after touring her property that “the main part of our house is still standing.” A studio used by her husband and his brother, two members of the group Dawes, was destroyed, and they lost “every instrument and piece of equipment they’ve ever owned. … Everyone we know lost everything.”
Moore said she’s “feeling weird survivors’ guilt.”
Bridges and his siblings lost a family Malibu home to the wildfires, according to his publicist. The house, on the Pacific Coast Highway, had belonged to their parents and was not a primary residence for the siblings.
Grammy-nominated Aiko shared that she lost her home in the Los Angeles-area wildfires. “Me and my children’s home is gone,” she wrote on Instagram Thursday. “Burned to the ground with all of our things inside. Lord have mercy. Thankful we still have each other.”
Cary Elwes, the star of “The Princess Bride” and numerous other films, wrote last Wednesday on Instagram that his family was safe, but their home had burned in the coastal Palisades fire. “Sadly, we did lose our home, but we are grateful to have survived this truly devastating fire,” Elwes wrote.
The blazes have thrown Hollywood’s carefully orchestrated awards season into disarray.
The AFI Awards, which were set to honor “Wicked,” “Anora” and other awards season contenders, had been scheduled for last Friday.
The AARP Movies for Grownups Awards, which honor movies and television shows that resonate with older audiences, set for last Friday, were postponed.
The Critics Choice Awards, originally scheduled for Sunday, have been postponed until Feb. 26.
Each of the shows features projects that are looking for any advantage they can get in the Oscar race and were scheduled during the Academy Awards voting window.
The Oscar nominations are also being delayed two days to Jan. 19, and the film academy has extended the voting window due to the fires.
Jamie Lee Curtis, who was among the stars who evacuated due to the Palisades fire, said she and her family are pledging $1 million to start a “fund of support” for those affected by the blazes burning in and around Los Angeles.
The actor announced the pledge last Thursday on Instagram. The previous night, she tearfully appeared on “The Tonight Show” and urged people to help communities affected by the fires.
“As you know, where I live is on fire right now,” Curtis 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 have lost their homes now.”
The Oscar winner wrote that she had been in touch with state and city leaders about how the money might be distributed “for the most impact.”
The Recording Academy, which bestows Grammy Awards and its MusiCares charity pledged $1 million to help musicians affected by the fires.
“The music community is being so severely impacted but we will come together as an industry to support one another,” Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy and MusiCares, said in a statement.
