A-list actors, musicians and other celebrities were among the tens of thousands of people affected by terrifying wildfires tearing through Los Angeles on Wednesday.
The entertainment capital was besieged by out-of-control blazes burning on multiple fronts, with Hollywood events including a glitzy awards show and a Pamela Anderson film premiere cancelled as firefighters battled nearby flames whipped up by hurricane-force winds.
Hundreds of homes were destroyed in the swanky Pacific Palisades area, a favorite spot for celebrities where multimillion-dollar houses nestle on beautiful hillsides, while another inferno devastated parts of Altadena, to the east.
Mandy Moore, the singer and “This Is Us” actress, told followers on Instagram she had fled with her children and pets from the path of the Altadena fire.
“Trying to shield the kids from the immense sadness and worry I feel. Praying for everyone in our beautiful city. So gutted for the destruction and loss. Don’t know if our place made it,” she wrote.
Emmy-winning actor James Woods posted a video on X showing flames engulfing trees and bushes near his Pacific Palisades home as he got ready to evacuate, and shortly afterwards said all the fire alarms were going off.
“I couldn’t believe our lovely little home in the hills held on this long. It feels like losing a loved one,” Woods said.
“Star Wars” star Mark Hamill told his followers on Instagram that he had fled his Malibu home on Tuesday.
“Evacuated Malibu so last-minute there were small fires on both sides of the road as we approached PCH,” he wrote, referring to the Pacific Coast Highway, a scenic road that connects seafront settlements.
Hamill said he and his wife Marilou York, along with a pet dog, had gone to their daughter’s Hollywood home to escape what he dubbed the “most horrific fire since ’93.”
Fellow Emmy-winning actor Billy Crystal said the Pacific Palisades house he and his wife lived in for 46 years burned down on Wednesday.
“Words cannot describe the enormity of the devastation we are witnessing and experiencing,” he said in a statement to People magazine. “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,” he said.
Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis was also forced to evacuate, later writing on Instagram: “Our beloved neighborhood is gone. Our home is safe. So many others have lost everything.”
Meanwhile, next week’s unveiling of the Oscar nominations was pushed back until January 19, to give Academy members affected by fires more time to cast their ballots this week.
Premieres cancelled
Meanwhile, several major Hollywood events were abruptly called off due to the disaster.
The annual Critics Choice Awards gala, which honors the year’s best in film and television and is attended by dozens of A-list stars, had been set for this Sunday but is now postponed.
A new date will be announced shortly, Critics Choice Association CEO Joey Berlin told AFP.
Anderson’s premiere for “The Last Showgirl” was scrapped due to the unfolding disaster, while Paramount also cancelled a glitzy red-carpet screening of the Robbie Williams musical film “Better Man.”
Netflix pulled the plug on a press conference for its Golden Globe winner “Emilia Perez.”
A live announcement to unveil this year’s Screen Actors Guild nominations was abandoned on Wednesday morning, in favor of a simple press release.
And the Universal Studios theme park was closed for the day due to the extreme winds and fire conditions.
Steve Guttenberg—star of 1984 comedy “Police Academy”—was among those helping get people out of Pacific Palisades as the fire began spreading on Tuesday.
The “Cocoon” actor expressed frustration at how some of those fleeing the blaze had abandoned their cars on one of the only roads in and out of the ritzy neighborhood.
“If you leave your car… leave the key in there so a guy like me can move your car so that these fire trucks can get up there. It’s really, really important,” he told a live television broadcast.
“Schitt’s Creek” star Eugene Levy was also among those caught up in gridlock traffic while evacuating, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Reality TV personalities Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt from “The Hills,” an MTV show that ran until 2010, said they had lost their house after evacuating.
“I’m watching our house burn down on the security cameras,” Pratt wrote on Snapchat.