With more than 100,000 impacted by the recent Southern California wildfires, many are struggling to get in the awards season spirit.
After the 97th Academy Awards previously delayed nominations and extended voting amid the disaster, Stephen King suggested the event should be canceled altogether this year.
“Not voting in the Oscars this year. IMHO they should cancel them. No glitz with Los Angeles on fire,” the author wrote on Bluesky.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences shared this week that nominations will be announced on Thursday, Jan. 23 at 5:30am PT, with the voting period extended to January 17 at 5pm PT.
Jean Smart previously urged networks that broadcast awards shows to consider “donating the revenue they would have garnered to victims of the fires and the firefighters.”
A view of flames at the mountain as seen from Topanga Canyon near Pacific Palisades on Jan. 9, 2025 (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, stars like Paris Hilton, Milo Ventimiglia, Adam Brody, Leighton Meester and Billy Crystal have lost their homes in the wildfires, which broke out in the Pacific Palisades, Eaton Canyon, Malibu, the Hollywood Hills and other areas around Los Angeles County amid a “life-threatening and destructive” windstorm that picked up last week.
As of Wednesday, at least 25 people have died in the Southern California wildfires. Meanwhile, more than 105,000 people have received mandatory evacuation orders. Since the fires started, officers have made 44 arrests across the impacted areas, including for arson, burglary, breaking curfew and other violations.
President Joe Biden, who extended his Los Angeles trip last week to visit first responders and those affected, declared the fires a major disaster and directed the federal government to cover 100% of costs for disaster assistance.
