By Alan Devall
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -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 neighbourhoods 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.”
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.
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.
(Writing by Peter Graff; editing by Mark Heinrich and Nick Zieminski)
