Actor Kirk Cameron announced Wednesday that he has left California and moved to Tennessee , adding to the list of Hollywood stars fleeing the Golden State.
The born-and-raised Californian and Growing Pains star told the Washington Examiner that he started thinking "seriously" about moving in the past three to five years, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns. In 2021, he asked his fans about suggestions for places to live if they could pick a state.
"It's pretty clear that California has been moving in a particular direction for a long time," he said.
The actor shared that the state was creating "so much division" and he yearned for a place that had a "healthy freedom mindset."
In recent years, the Hollywood exodus out of California has included actor Mark Wahlberg who decided to leave Los Angeles to find a better place for his children "to thrive." Sylvester Stallone also moved to Florida in 2021. Fitness guru Jillian Michaels recently left California because of the crime and found Florida to be "less crazy."
For Cameron, he said he has found that Tennessee has "a lot of California refugees," including "creatives" who've moved from Hollywood and are creating a growing entertainment industry community in the state. From 2014 to 2022, Tennessee's motion picture and video production jobs have skyrocketed by 82% . As a result, the state has started getting the nickname "Hollywood of the South."
The Hollywood Reporter reported in 2021 that the industry has been moving out of California for lower taxes and quality of life. The report cited that many have "an appetite for the no-state-income-tax states," such as Tennessee. It also suggested that the Volunteer State's popularity is because there's "an entertainment hub there."
Cameron said that while the pandemic helped change the viewpoint of companies around the world regarding remote working, the film business was evolving because of technology prior to 2020 to make it possible for entertainment professionals to coordinate and execute productions from anywhere.
"It's shocking how many Californians are here. And when I see them in the grocery store, I tell them, 'Don't California our Tennessee,'" he said with a laugh.
"If everything hits the fan and there's some serious economic problems and division going on, they want to be around people like they think who are all about God, family, and country. It's a really nice place to be," the former teenage heartthrob said of his new fellow Tennesseans.
Cameron, a now 53-year-old father of six grown children, said he was also drawn to leaving California due to three of his children now living in Tennessee, a place where he says has "good wholesome values and, equally as important, good whiskey."
He also said many families are exiting states such as California because they want to get away from those that are diminishing their property values and quality of life, adding that families want to "be around like-minded people for safety and for security."
The television actor is continuing to produce and star in his new children’s television show Adventures with Iggy and Mr. Kirk , which is a modernized and animated version of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. The new show features himself and Iggy the Iguana.
In recent years, Cameron has also been a leading advocate against drag queen story hours and drawing crowds of thousands nationwide to library story hours in an effort to promote wholesome, age-appropriate children's books. He has partnered with BRAVE Books to release several faith-based children's books.
On Aug. 24, Cameron is leading a nationwide effort to encourage parents and children to host or help support a story hour at their local libraries.
Last month, LGBT activists used Pride Month to make the Guinness Book of World Records in hosting the world's largest drag queen story event in Philadelphia with over 260 attendees at the National Constitution Center.
"We're aiming to set a Guinness World Record with this event. It's called 'See You at the Library' and we held this event last summer and we had tens of thousands of people show up at their public libraries on this one day to read wholesome books to the children in their community, to sing the National Anthem, and to pray together," he said.
He said last year's " See You at the Library " event had over 300 public libraries that participated in 46 states and this year, he said he hopes the event will be in more than 500 public libraries across all 50 states.
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Cameron plans to rival the Pride Month record with his own story hour record on Aug. 24. He previously had over 3,000 attendees at one of his story hours in Indianapolis.
The BRAVE Books children's author hopes the Guinness Book of Records will have the "same integrity and objectivity" about his story hour event in August.
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