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Adam Brody, Billy Crystal, Eugene Levy Among Jewish Celebrities Whose Homes Destroyed in Los Angeles Wildfires

Flames rise from a structure as the Palisades fire burns during a windstorm on the west side of Los Angeles, California, US, Jan. 8, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ringo Chiu
Adam Brody, Billy Crystal, and Eugene Levy are among the Jewish celebrities whose homes have been destroyed and reduced to rubble by the wildfires in Los Angeles County that started early Tuesday morning and have so far killed 10 people.
Brody and his wife, actress Leighton Meester, lived in the Pacific Palisades, where an out-of-control bush fire started Tuesday morning before spreading to other neighborhoods in the Los Angeles area with the help of strong winds.
Crystal lost the Pacific Palisades house where he had lived since 1979 and raised his children.
Levy also saw his house burn down in the same neighborhood. The “Schitt’s Creek” star told the Los Angeles Times that he was caught in gridlock traffic when trying to evacuate his neighborhood. Levy, who is Canadian, has been serving as Pacific Palisades’ honorary mayor since 2021.
“Top Gun: Maverick” actor Miles Teller, who is of Russian and Jewish descent on his father’s side, had pictures of his burning home shared by media outlets. American television host and actress Melissa Rivers, who is the daughter of the late Jewish comedian and media personality Joan Rivers, also had her home destroyed by the wildfires. She talked to CNN on Wednesday about the belongings she took from her home before evacuating, and said they included her mother’s only Emmy award — won in 1990 for Outstanding Talk/Service Show Host for her work on “The Joan Rivers Show.” Rivers also grabbed items such as passports, birth certificates, and medication before evacuating her home.
“I grabbed my mom’s Emmy, a photo of my dad [the late producer Edgar Rosenberg], and a drawing that my mother had done of me and my son … I went for a drawing of my mother’s rather than a photo, because I know I can find the photos,” she said, adding of the drawing, “I can’t replace [it].”
The Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center was decimated by the fire, but its 13 Torah scrolls were saved.
Other Jewish celebrities whose homes were destroyed in the wildfires include Diane Warren, Ricki Lake, and Jennifer Grey.
Warren and Levy have been honored by Creative Community for Peace (CCFP), a pro-Israel nonprofit organization that is comprised of prominent members of the entertainment industry dedicated to combating anti-Israel sentiment and antisemitism in the industry. The organization shared its condolences to victims of the wildfires in a released statement.
“We are devastated by the unprecedented destruction in Los Angeles, which has forced members of the Creative Community for Peace’s advisory board, and broader community, and even our esteemed Ambassadors of Peace honorees, such as Eugene Levy and Diane Warren, to evacuate and face the loss of their homes,” CCFP said. “We are a community of strength and resilience. Together, we will rebuild and overcome.”
Lake’s home in Malibu was destroyed on Tuesday, and she chronicled in a series of Instagram posts her family’s failed efforts to stay behind and save the house, before they decided to evacuate and prevent themselves from being engulfed in the flames.
“Ross and I lost our dream home,” she wrote in one Instagram post, referring to her husband. “This description ‘dream home’ doesn’t suffice. It was our heaven on earth. The place where we planned to grow old together … This loss is immeasurable. It’s the spot where we got married 3 years ago. I grieve along with all of those suffering during this apocalyptic event. Praying for all of my neighbors, my friends, my community, the animals, the firefighters, and first responders.”
Actress Jamie Lee Curtis, who is the daughter of the late Jewish actor Tony Curtis, said she is donating $1 million toward the relief efforts for the wildfires in LA.
“As the fire still rages on and @calfire @losangelesfiredepartment 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, who had to evacuate her LA home, wrote in an Instagram post on Thursday. “I’m in communication with [California] Governor [Gavin] Newsom and [LA] Mayor [KAren] Bass and Senator [Adam] Schiff as to where those funds need to be directed for the most impact.”
At least 70,000 people have been displaced by the wildfires since Tuesday morning, and Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said late on Thursday that he expects the death toll to increase. The Palisades fire between Santa Monica and Malibu and the Eaton fire in the east near Pasadena have been ranked as the most destructive fires in the history of Los Angeles for destroying more than 34,000 acres and nearly 10,000 structures, according to Reuters.
The Jewish organization Chai Lifeline is providing resources to support victims of the Los Angeles wildfire, and the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles has created a Wildfire Crisis Relief Fund to support its neighbors affected by the fires, while also helping to facilitate shelter, warm meals, and other needs for victims. BStrong — an initiative started by Jewish entrepreneur and former reality star Bethenny Frankel in partnership with the nonprofit organization Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) — is raising funds and also providing supplies and resources to help with the relief efforts.
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Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted

Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
The Israeli army said on Saturday that a missile fired from Yemen towards Israeli territory had been “most likely successfully intercepted,” while Yemen’s Houthi forces claimed responsibility for the launch.
Israel has threatened Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement – which has been attacking Israel in what it says is solidarity with Gaza – with a naval and air blockade if its attacks on Israel persist.
The Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group was responsible for Saturday’s attack, adding that it fired a missile towards the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.
Since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade.
Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.
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Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel

People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Large crowds of mourners dressed in black lined streets in Iran’s capital Tehran as the country held a funeral on Saturday for top military commanders, nuclear scientists and some of the civilians killed during this month’s aerial war with Israel.
At least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among those mourned at the funeral, according to state media, including armed forces chief Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guards commander General Hossein Salami, and Guards Aerospace Force chief General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
Their coffins were driven into Tehran’s Azadi Square adorned with their photos and national flags, as crowds waved flags and some reached out to touch the caskets and throw rose petals onto them. State-run Press TV showed an image of ballistic missiles on display.
Mass prayers were later held in the square.
State TV said the funeral, dubbed the “procession of the Martyrs of Power,” was held for a total of 60 people killed in the war, including four women and four children.
In attendance were President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures including Ali Shamkhani, who was seriously wounded during the conflict and is an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as Khamenei’s son Mojtaba.
“Today, Iranians, through heroic resistance against two regimes armed with nuclear weapons, protected their honor and dignity, and look to the future prouder, more dignified, and more resolute than ever,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who also attended the funeral, said in a Telegram post.
There was no immediate statement from Khamenei, who has not appeared publicly since the conflict began. In past funerals, he led prayers over the coffins of senior commanders ahead of public ceremonies broadcast on state television.
Israel launched the air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders as well as civilians in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq.
Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites, infrastructure and cities. The United States entered the war on June 22 with strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
TRUMP THREAT
Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said it aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.
Iran denies having a nuclear weapons program. The U.N. nuclear watchdog has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons program in Iran.
Bagheri, Salami and Hajizadeh were killed on June 13, the first day of the war. Bagheri was being buried at the Behesht Zahra cemetery outside Tehran mid-afternoon on Saturday. Salami and Hajizadeh were due to be buried on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would consider bombing Iran again, while Khamenei, who has appeared in two pre-recorded video messages since the start of the war, has said Iran would respond to any future US attack by striking US military bases in the Middle East.
A senior Israeli military official said on Friday that Israel had delivered a “major blow” to Iran’s nuclear project. On Saturday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that Israel and the US “failed to achieve their stated objectives” in the war.
According to Iranian health ministry figures, 610 people were killed on the Iranian side in the war before a ceasefire went into effect on Tuesday. More than 4,700 were injured.
Activist news agency HRANA put the number of killed at 974, including 387 civilians.
Israel’s health ministry said 28 were killed in Israel and 3,238 injured.
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Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival

Revellers dance as Avril Lavigne performs on the Other Stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
i24 News – Chants of “death to the IDF” were heard during the English Glastonbury music festival on Saturday ahead of the appearance of the pro-Palestinian Irish rappers Kneecap.
One half of punk duo based Bob Vylan (who both use aliases to protect their privacy) shouted out during a section of their show “Death to the IDF” – the Israeli military. Videos posted on X (formerly Twitter) show the crowd responding to and repeating the cheer.
This comes after officials had petitioned the music festival to drop the band. The rap duo also expressed support for the following act, Kneecap, who the BCC refused to show live after one of its members, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – better known by stage name Mo Chara – was charged with a terror offense.
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