Los Angeles has long been the epicenter of America’s entertainment industry, but as the city continues to be destroyed by raging wildfires even some of it’s biggest stars are starting to recognize how incompetent their local and state officials are.
“Family Ties” actress Justine Bateman, for example, recently sounded off on the situation by pointing a finger at those city leaders who have contributed to the current disaster.
As she said during a Fox News Channel interview this week:
“I’m pretty pissed, and I think a lot of people in Los Angeles are pissed,” Bateman told “Jesse Watters Primetime” Thursday, insisting that city leaders should be better at handling these types of situations.
The Palisades Fire, Eaton Fire, Hurst Fire, Lidia Fire and the Sunset Fire have ravaged LA County. As of Friday, officials had reported that the death toll was at least 11 and the fires had burned more than 36,000 acres and destroyed over 10,000 structures.
“If you are going to run a city or run a state, you have to take care of the basics, and that’s to make sure that your fire and your police department are well-funded,” the filmmaker said, stressing the importance of having “rehearsed” planning in place to hopefully minimize the consequences of natural disasters. For California, that includes wildfires, earthquakes, heavy rain and consequent mudslides.
Bateman argued California’s elected officials are ‘’incapable” of planning for these major events, saying they are “useless” if they are not doing everything in their power to tackle disasters before they occur.
“If you can’t cover the basics, get out of our city. You are useless to us. You are a liability and you have destroyed people’s lives because you didn’t do your job,” she said. “You didn’t do what you were hired for. You didn’t do what we pay you for.” Bateman added officials should “resign out of shame and responsibility for the people whose lives you’ve destroyed right now.”
A long line of celebrities have confirmed that their homes in the area are among those that were destroyed by the fires:
Actor James Woods breaks down in tears after losing multi-million dollar LA home to wildfires.
Follow: @AFpost pic.twitter.com/H5954yrhCd
— AF Post (@AFpost) January 9, 2025
Incase you were worried about your favorite celebrities homes… pic.twitter.com/mFxlvgi40W
— Isaac’s Army (@ReturnOfKappy) January 9, 2025
Celebrities and wealthy people lose their homes in California to a natural disaster and they are being helped.
Poor people in Appalachia are still living in tents in the snow after almost 4 months.
— whiskeyvice (@whiskeyvice) January 9, 2025
Bateman isn’t the only star who has pointed out the perceived flaws in L.A.’s leadership, as USA Today reported:
“Shazam!” star Zachary Levi appeared on Fox News Wednesday to voice frustration with California politicians for their handling of the multiple wildfires burning in the Los Angeles area, as well as others that have affected the state in the past.
“This is just incredible mismanagement, incredibly poor leadership; I would go so far as to say that it’s criminally negligent,” said Levi, who spoke to Fox from Austin, Texas. The actor has previously described himself as a Libertarian and backed Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign before throwing his support behind President-elect Donald Trump.
Here’s what Mel Gibson and other celebrities had to say:
And here’s a clip from Bateman’s recent Fox News appearance:
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