Mel Gibson: Loss of Malibu home in LA fires ‘devastating’
Matt Spears
(NewsNation) — Film actor and director Mel Gibson told NewsNation’s “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” on Thursday that his Malibu home has been destroyed by the wildfires raging in the Los Angeles area, calling the experience “devastating.”
Mel Gibson loses home in LA fires
“It’s emotional,” Gibson said. “I had my stuff there. I’ve been relieved from the burden of my stuff because it’s all in cinders.”
Gibson told Vargas that he was in Austin, Texas, appearing on Joe Rogan’s podcast when he learned the fire had broken out. He says that while speaking with Rogan, he was “ill at ease” because he’d heard his neighborhood was in flames.
“I thought, ‘Eh, I wonder if my place is still there,'” Gibson said. “When I got home, sure enough, it wasn’t there.”
Celebrities among those impacted by LA-area fires
The “Mad Max” actor is one of many Hollywood stars who have lost their homes, with others affected including Billy Crystal, Paris Hilton and Cary Elwes.
TOPSHOT – A brush fire burns near homes in Pacific Palisades, California on January 7, 2025. A fast-moving brushfire in a Los Angeles suburb burned buildings and sparked evacuations Tuesday as “life threatening” winds whipped the region. More than 200 acres (80 hectares) was burning in Pacific Palisades, a upscale spot with multi-million dollar homes in the Santa Monica Mountains, shuttering a key highway and blanketing the area with thick smoke. (Photo by David Swanson / AFP) (Photo by DAVID SWANSON/AFP via Getty Images)
A house is on fire as residents try to escape in Los Angeles on Jan. 8. A fast-moving wildfire has forced thousands to evacuate, with officials warning that worsening winds could further escalate the blaze. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES – JANUARY 09: (—-EDITORIAL USE ONLY MANDATORY CREDIT – ‘OFFICIAL FLICKR ACCOUNT OF CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY AND FIRE PROTECTION / HANDOUT’ – NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS—-) Fire destroys buildings and vegetation as flames rage across Los Angeles, California, United States on January 09, 2025. (Photo by Official Flickr Account of CAL FIRE / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
A firefighter stands on top of a fire truck to battle the Palisades fire while it burns homes on the Pacific Coast Highway amid a powerful windstorm on Jan. 8 in Los Angeles, Calif. (Photo by Apu Gomes/Getty Images)
A firefighter fights the flames from the Palisades fire burning the Theatre Palisades during a powerful windstorm on Jan. 8 in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. (Photo by Apu Gomes/Getty Images)
Gibson noted that he was surprised by the intensity of the damage and by what seemed to be the randomness of which houses were destroyed in his neighborhood.
“(The area) was completely toasted. I’ve never seen such a complete burn,” Gibson told Vargas, saying he isn’t sure if he’ll rebuild there but that he was grateful for the generosity of those living nearby and the fact his family was safe.
As of Thursday afternoon, the Los Angeles wildfires have burned nearly 29,000 acres, destroyed thousands of structures and forced almost 180,000 people to evacuate their homes. Five have died as a result of the fires.
