
The fire has also affected the iconic "Hollywood" sign. This is confirmed by several images circulating on platforms such as X, Truth (the social network created by Donald Trump), and YouTube.
But it's not true.
This is just the latest example of an image created with artificial intelligence. In addition, there are several images from different users that have been shared and then reassembled online.
The fire that engulfed the Californian city, which has already burned 117 square kilometers, killed 9 people and caused 180,000 to evacuate with damages of 150 billion dollars, has another consequence.
The usual, what happens after every major disaster. From COVID to the most recent flooding caused by Hurricane Helene.
When a problem is complex, an attempt is made to find a simple solution. Which can be exploited for political or economic purposes and which plays on our need to understand and place what we cannot understand in a predetermined model: someone must be to blame.
This is the classic structure from which all fake news and conspiracy theories arise.
The person who could be designated "guilty" in this case is Kristin Crowley, the chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department. She has worked there for 22 years, has led several departments, and has held this position since 2022.
But she is also a woman, a lesbian, and actively engaged in the defense of LGBTQ+ rights and values ??related to diversity and inclusion.
Crowley has been strongly criticized in several posts on X and TikTok for focusing more on promoting what is called the "culture of DEI" (diversity, equality, and inclusion), which is a philosophy very present in the administrative and governmental areas of Los Angeles, than on the efficiency of the sector.
“Do you really think DEI made these arson attacks worse? Yes, I do. DEI was the fire chief’s goal. The department and city spent money on DEI while dangerous branches were not removed and hydrants were running out of water,” wrote Robby Starbuck, a conservative activist who aims to destroy the “woke” mentality, which is viewed by the far right as far left propaganda related to LGBTQ+ issues.
This post was reposted by Elon Musk, with the comment: "DEI means people DIE."
But the entrepreneur, also a close ally of Donald Trump, seems to support much more extreme statements.
Like those of Alex Jones, also known as America’s conspiracy theorist, who suggested – also on X – that the fires were deliberately set as part of a “global plan to wage economic warfare.” Musk’s comment (later deleted): “True.”
Returning to the fire issue, Donald Trump has publicly blamed California Governor Gavin Newsom for the difficulty in Los Angeles' water supply.
The city's mayor, Karen Bass, is also accused of being responsible for the fire, having cut the budget for the fire department. And it's true: last year it was cut by $17.6 million from a total budget of $820 million.
But the mayor's response was: "I think if we go back and look at the reductions that have been made, there have been no reductions that would have had an impact on the situation we have faced these two days."
The conspiracy theories circulating these days are also affecting two of California's most important industries, technology and entertainment.
According to these theories, the fire – which for both is certainly intentional – originated in a plan to create a new city run and managed by artificial intelligence, on the remains of Los Angeles.
The help comes from a 2020 document on the city’s digitalization, with an 8-year plan called SmartLA 2028. “Was this a targeted attack to take over more valuable land?” one user suggests. And further: “We’re talking about SmartLA 2028… and how Los Angeles’s fires have adapted to their urban redevelopment program. Fires create vacant land… that is suddenly available for ‘reimagining’ neighborhoods in line with smart city visions.”
And then there's Hollywood, the "star class" that will do anything to protect its crimes. Even by starting a fire.
The protagonist here is Sean Diddy Combs, who was accused of sexual assault and human trafficking in September. And it seems, according to some theories circulating online, that there is a tunnel that connected the artist's home to the Playboy mansion.
Some kind of secret passage to facilitate his traffic, but which has never been found.
The fire would have been caused, according to the conspirators, by attempts to destroy this tunnel to erase evidence that could have worsened Combs' position and – moreover – to reveal the crimes of Hollywood stars.