Mel Gibson revealed that he lost his Malibu home in the Los Angeles wildfires while he was in Austin to record a podcast interview with Joe Rogan.
In a telephone interview on NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas Reports, the Mad Max actor tried to remain upbeat as he spoke at length about the “devastating” feeling of losing the home he had lived in for 14 to 15 years. “Obviously, it’s kind of devastating. It’s emotional,” Gibson said to host Elizabeth Vargas. “You live there for a long time, and you had all your stuff. You remember George Carlin talking about your stuff? I had my stuff there, and it’s all like, I’ve been relieved from the burden of my stuff, because it’s all in cinders.”
When asked about where he was during the fire that consumed his home, Gibson said he was in Austin, Texas, at the time to record an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience. “I was doing the Rogan podcast… And [I was] kind of ill at ease while we were talking, because I knew my neighborhood was on fire, so I thought, I wonder if my place is still there. But when I got home, sure enough, it wasn’t there. I went home and I said to myself, well, at least I haven’t got any of those pesky plumbing problems anymore.”
Gibson said that his wife, Rosalind Ross, and their son, Lars, were safe as they had evacuated their home. He added that fellow actor Ed Harris’ home, down the street from Gibson’s, was also burned down. Despite the devastation, Gibson said his chickens survived the fire.
Pushed by Vargas, the Braveheart star offered more insight into what he lost in the fires. “I had a lot of personal things there that, you know, I can’t get back…All kinds of stuff, everything from photographs to files to, you know, you know, just personal things that I had from over the years, and clothing, you know, pretty cool stuff, you know, but you know that can all be replaced,” Gibson said. “These are only things. And the good, the good news is that, you know, those in my family and those I love are all well, and we’re all happy and healthy and out of harm’s way, that’s all I can care about, really.”
