Nicolas Cage has walked back comments that he was left “homeless” after a sinkhole threatened his $10.5 million Malibu home, saying he was simply joking around during an interview and that he and his family are doing fine.
“I went to Comic Con and I was riffing with a very good interviewer and he just had to ask, because it was Halloween night, ‘What are you doing for Halloween?’ Now, when I said that, I meant my house is not available for trick or treaters,” Cage told the Associated Press on Wednesday.
“Now, I have to watch my words so much to the letter. We’re content. We’re fine. We’re not destitute. We’re okay,” he said. “I was just meaning that the house is not available for decorations and for candy to hand out to the children, which I like to do because I like Halloween.”
The clarification followed remarks Cage made at LA Comic Con the previous week, when he told the crowd, “I’m currently a little bit homeless. Something happened to my house in Malibu so I’m just sort of living in hotels, so I don’t have normal trick-or-treaters I would like to enjoy tonight.”
Those comments drew criticism on social media, with some objecting to the 62-year-old actor describing himself as “homeless.”
The trouble began in early September, when Cage’s beachfront home in Malibu was affected by what the City of Malibu described as coastal erosion “due to coastal erosion from the high tides and high surf.” Five beachfront homes in the area, including Cage’s, were red tagged, and an evacuation order was issued for the affected properties. A gas leak was also reported at the back of Cage’s property at the time.
Since then, Cage has moved to try to save the home. He filed three permits within days of the incident, including an emergency building permit that allowed him to place sandbags along the beach and the exterior of the house to guard against future erosion and wave damage. The city also approved permits for asphalt debris removal and excavation work to collect soil samples.
Cage bought the property, which includes a private rooftop deck and direct beach access, in 2024.
