Mel Gibson warns civilization heading toward ‘collapse’ after L.A. fires

'All those earmarks, the precursors of a collapse, they’re present in our time,' Oscar winner says

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Published Jan 10, 2025  •  4 minute read

Mel Gibson Photo by Max Becherer /AP

As wildfires raged across Los Angeles this week, Mel Gibson warned that the end of civilization is near during an interview with Joe Rogan.

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Gibson lost his Malibu home while he was in Austin, Texas recording an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, where the two discussed the harbinger the L.A. fires may be pointing to.

“The whole state is so poorly managed,” Rogan said, taking a swipe at California Governor Gavin Newsom. “He gets on TV and pretends everything’s great … ‘California’s the best, we have the best state, we have the most amazing economy,’ like, you’re out of your f***ing mind, dude’ … he ruined the state … It’s unbelievable that society can crumble that quickly.”

“It doesn’t take long,” Gibson replied. “I read a book once by Jared Diamond called Collapse … It’s all the things you need for a civilization to cave in and collapse. A lot of those things are present, all those earmarks, the precursors of a collapse, they’re present in our time.”

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“Do you think this will get you out of California finally?” Rogan asked. 

“Yeah, maybe,” Gibson responded, mentioning that he also owns a home in Costa Rica and can easily move there.

Earlier this week, Rogan went viral after clips resurfaced in which he recounted why he moved out of Los Angeles following an eerie conversation with a fireman when he was living in the city.

“He goes, ‘One day, it’s just going to be the right wind, and fire’s gonna start in the right place, and it’s going to burn through L.A. all the way to the ocean, and there’s not a f***ing thing we can do about it,’” Rogan recalled during a conversation with comedian Sam Morril last July.

During their wide-ranging chat, Rogan and Gibson further criticized the state’s Democratic governor, who has been blamed along with L.A. mayor Karen Bass, for enacting policies that put the city at risk.

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“They spent $24 billion last year on the homeless, and what did they spend on preventing these wildfires?” Rogan said. “Zip.”

“And in 2019, Newsom said, you know, that he would take care of the forest, maintain the forest and do all that kinda stuff. He didn’t do anything,” Gibson added. “All our tax dollars probably went for Gavin’s hair gel … It’s the same team that was up in San Francisco, and they came down to L.A. and are doing what they did in San Francisco … San Francisco’s kind of like apocalyptic now. I went there and it’s just like people, you know, homeless, it’s just a mess.”

Elsewhere in his conversation with Rogan, the 69-year-old actor said he was left paralyzed for three months after taking remdesivir after being diagnosed with COVID.

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“I  couldn’t walk for three months after I had that stuff… because it kills you. I found that afterwards, it kills you,” he said.

Remdesivir was an early antiviral medication that was prescribed to patients suffering from COVID early on the pandemic.

Gibson also fired shots at the Catholic Church, claiming the religious organization that’s “covering up child molesters.”

“It’s a dark institution in a lot of ways,” Rogan said.

“It was instituted by Christ, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be flawed and there is a school of thought that says it isn’t what it purports to be anymore,” Gibson replied. “It’s moved away from what it was intended to be and is … there’s a guy called Bishop Viganò who says it’s a counterfeit, parallel Church and it’s running an entirely different religion.”

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While speaking with Rogan, Gibson said he would be “surprised if my home is still there” as the blaze burned through parts of Los Angeles, torching mansions owned by famous names like James Woods, Billy Crystal, Miles Teller, Paris Hilton, Mandy Moore and more.

Later, while speaking with NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas, the Oscar-winner confirmed his property had been burned to the ground.

“Obviously, it’s kind of devastating. It’s emotional,” Gibson told 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 Vargas asked Gibson what he lost in the fire, he said it was “a lot of personal things there that, you know, I can’t get back.”

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But there was one silver lining. Gibson told Vargas that his “chickens survived, it was amazing.”

“They were fine. We gave them some grain and some water and they were happy, they were laying eggs. They weren’t roast chickens,” he quipped.

According to the Associated Press, the fires have burned more than 10,000 homes and other structures since Tuesday and have killed at least 10 people.

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