Award-winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis was criticized after likening the aftermath of the Los Angeles wildfires to the destruction in Gaza, Haaretz reported.
The comparison was made during a Q&A session for Curtis’ new film, “The Last Showgirl”. The actress, who was evacuated from her home in Pacific Palisades as a result of the fires, remarked, "The entire Pacific Palisades looks like, unfortunately, Gaza or one of these war-torn countries where terrible things have happened."
The statement sparked widespread reactions online from pro-Palestinian Arab critics, who interpreted her remarks as dismissive of Palestinian Arab suffering.
After a pro-Israel social media account shared Curtis' wildfire comments, backlash came from Israel supporters as well.
One account, Am Yisrael Chai, wrote on X, “The people of Los Angeles did not deserve this destruction. Hamas on the other hand deserves everything that’s happened to them for kidnapping babies, raping women, and carrying out unimaginable horrors on October 7th.”
Curtis, whose father, actor Tony Curtis, was Jewish, has previously voiced her support for Israel. She was among more than 700 leaders from the entertainment industry who signed an open letter in support of Israel following the October 7 massacre.
The actress was also embroiled in a Gaza-related controversy on the day of Hamas’ attack on Israel, when she posted a photo of children looking skyward in fear, captioned “terror from the skies” alongside an Israeli flag. She later deleted the post when it was revealed the image depicted Palestinian Arab children in northern Gaza, not Israelis.