Paul Hogan has denied writing a sign warning homeless people to stay away from his $3.5million in crime-ravaged Venice, Los Angeles.
This is despite the Crocodile Dundee star, 81, being pictured on Sunday holding a red marker in his hands near the note which read ‘THIS IS MY HOUSE NOT YOURS’.
Hogan insisted on Wednesday it wasn’t him who wrote the sign, and went on to say he empathises with people living on the streets.
The reclusive Australian actor, who has lived in the U.S. for 16 years, even described the homelessness crisis in LA as ‘awful’ and ’embarrassing’.
‘It wasn’t me’: Crocodile Dundee star Paul Hogan, 81, has DENIED writing a callous note to the homeless outside his $3.5million Venice Beach mansion – despite being caught with a marker near the sign
‘It wasn’t me who put it up,’ Paul told TMZ as he made his way through a parking lot near his $3.5million home.
He said he ‘doesn’t know why’ somebody put the sign up.
‘I took it down and it’s not my house anyway,’ he said, referring to him renting the mansion rather than owning it.
‘It wasn’t me who put it up,’ Paul told TMZ as he made his way through a parking lot near his $3.5million home. Pictured putting up the sign
He went on to discuss the homeless situation in LA, saying: ‘I just find it sad.’
‘California has the fifth biggest economy in the world and we’ve got more homeless people than Bangladesh. I find it awful and embarrassing, wish I could do something about it,’ Paul said.
He said he understands why so many homeless people camp at Venice Beach rather than other cities in America.
‘I tell you what, if I was homeless and lived in New York, I couldn’t wait to get to Venice Beach… can’t blame them for that.’
Stern: A masked Paul sent a stern warning to the less fortunate on Sunday as he was pictured pinning a note to his front door that said: ‘THIS IS MY HOUSE NOT YOURS’
When asked if his family are doing well, Paul bizarrely quipped: ‘No problem, I’m happy in my mega-mansion.’
Despite making headlines for the sign, Paul stood firm in the face of criticism and even flashed a thumbs out while stepping out.
A masked Paul sent a stern warning to the less fortunate on Sunday as he was pictured pinning a note to his front door that said: ‘THIS IS MY HOUSE NOT YOURS.’
The reclusive Australian actor, 81, lives in the once-desirable beachside suburb of Venice, where crime and homelessness have spiked in recent months during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Paul, who said earlier this month he was ‘desperately homesick’ and wanted to return to Australia, attached the note to his door before making his way back inside.
Later that day, he left the residence – which locals have described as a ‘fortress’ – to pick up his 22-year-old son, Chance, who also lives with him.
The actor lives in the once-elite beachside suburb of Venice, where a sudden increase in homelessness has resulted in a terrifying crime wave.
Crisis: The actor lives in the once-elite beachside suburb of Venice, where a sudden increase in homelessness has resulted in a terrifying crime wave
The world-famous beach community, 16 miles from downtown Los Angeles, has traditionally been a major tourism drawcard for the Californian city; however, now the palm trees and promenade are blighted by hundreds of tents.
Paul and Chance have been stuck inside the mansion for months amid the recent wave of crime and homelessness in the area.
Los Angeles has been ravaged by its homeless crisis, with the number of homeless people rising steadily from around 40,000 in 2011, to around 66,000 at the latest count in January 2020.
Residents around the famed Venice boardwalk are demanding action from the authorities saying it has been turned into a large, ‘dangerous’ homeless encampment and has been hit by a spate of violent incidents.
On April 28, a man survived a shooting and recently there was a fire inside one of the encampments dotting Ocean Front Walk.
Local residents have been upset over the recent incidents, which have happened amid the expansion of local encampments.
Concerns: Residents around the famed Venice boardwalk are demanding action from the authorities saying it has been turned into a large, ‘dangerous’ homeless encampment and has been hit by a spate of violent incidents
‘Where Paul lives in hell on earth,’ Hogan’s neighbour Tyler Proctor, a local politician, recently told Woman’s Day magazine.
‘His house is like a fortress and it needs to be. I can see why [he] wants to move out,’ Mr Proctor added.
Local Kevin Buttress, 32, who owns the Xquisite Barber Lounge in LA, told Fox News he was attacked in November by a pit bull owned by a homeless person and was knocked out with a skateboard.
‘I’ve given a lot of myself to the community of Venice Beach,’ said Buttress. ‘And to see everything just fall to pieces, it’s messed up.’
During the Covid-19 pandemic, around 200 tents have been erected on the boardwalk according to local residents.
‘Venice’s world famous beach and boardwalk are crippled,’ hundreds of locals said in a letter pleading for help from city and county officials.
‘Local children are refusing to come to the beach because they’re frightened by what they’ve witnessed. Seniors who live on or near the boardwalk are terrified of walking in their own neighborhoods.’
Homesick: Paul moved to the United States permanently in 2005, after growing up in Granville in Sydney’s western suburbs. The Flipper star wants to return to Australia to escape Los Angeles, but has said he couldn’t possibly survive two weeks of hotel quarantine
Paul moved to the United States permanently in 2005, after growing up in Granville in Sydney’s western suburbs.
The Flipper star wants to return to Australia to escape Los Angeles, but has said he couldn’t possibly survive two weeks of hotel quarantine.
‘I can’t wait for this stupid disease to go away so I can get out,’ Hogan revealed on the News Corp podcast Evenin’ Viewers in October.
‘I’m like a kangaroo in a Russian zoo – I don’t belong here.’
During an interview with Sunrise last week, a glum-looking Paul spoke about his miserable life in crime-ravaged LA during the coronavirus pandemic.
‘Desperate’: During an interview with Sunrise last week, a glum-looking Paul spoke about his miserable life in crime-ravaged LA during the coronavirus pandemic
He revealed he was ‘desperate’ to return to Australia and leave his life in America behind.
‘I am desperately homesick,’ he said during a video chat from his home.
According to figures from the Los Angeles Police Department provided to the Venice Neighbourhood Council, the violent robberies in the neighbourhood are up 177 per cent from last year.
The same period has also seen a 162 per cent increase in cases of assault with a deadly weapon involving a homeless person.
When asked how he was coping with Los Angeles’ recent crime wave, Paul simply said he ‘doesn’t go anywhere’.
‘[I’m] bored in lockdown, and the minute I can get on the plane without being locked in a hotel for two weeks, I’m back,’ he said.
However, he failed to win any sympathy from Australians when he told Sunrise hosts David ‘Kochie’ Koch and Natalie Barr he ‘wouldn’t survive’ hotel quarantine.
‘My son [Chance] would have to be with me… we’d strangle each other,’ he said.