Jamie Lee Curtis donates $1 million to wildfire crisis in Los Angeles
Academy Award-winner Jamie Lee Curtis is donating $1 million to tackle the wildfire crisis in Los Angeles.
Taking to Instagram on January 9th, Curtis shared: “As the fire still rages on and California Fire Los Angeles Fire Department and all the available first responders and agencies involved in fighting fire and saving lives are still hard at work and neighbors and friends are banding together to save each other, my husband and I and our children have pledged $1 million from our Family Foundation to start a fund of support for our great city and state and the great people who live and love there.”
Curtis continued: “I’m in communication with Governor Newsom and Mayor Bass and Senator Schiff as to where those funds need to be directed for the most impact.”
The actor’s donation arose after she previously appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on January 8th to speak about the wildfires that had devastated Los Angeles.
Curtis told the host: “The entire city of Pacific Palisades is burning. I flew here last night, I was on the plane, started getting texts and it’s fucking gnarly, you guys. It’s just a catastrophe in Southern California. Obviously, there have been horrific fires in many places. 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 now have lost their homes. It’s a really awful situation.”
As of January 9th, more than 1,100 structures had been destroyed, and five people have died because of the wildfires. The Pacific Palisades area, which Curtis calls home, has been particularly hard hit, with nearly 7,000 hectares engulfed in flames with zero containment. More than 150,000 Los Angeles residents have been affected by the destructive wildfires currently tearing through the city which has caused mass evacuations.
Stars such as Mandy Moore, Miles Teller, Anthony Hopkins, Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Paris Hilton, and Adam Brody have had their homes destroyed by the wildfires. Meanwhile, DIIV frontman Zachary Cole Smith has launched a fundraiser after his home was lost.
As a result of the ongoing situation, the premieres of A Better Man, Unstoppable, The Last Showgirl and Wolf Man have all been cancelled.
Additionally, in response to the fires, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has extended Oscar voting by two days and postponed the announcement of the nominations to January 19th. The Critics Choice Awards, which were due to take place on January 12th, have also been pushed back to January 26th.
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