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While veteran actor, singer and filmmaker Robert Davi has long been an outspoken critic of California’s political leadership, its current policies and Hollywood’s cultural direction, he never really saw himself leaving the Golden State.
The 75-year-old character actor, known for playing iconic tough guys in films like “The Goonies” and “Die Hard,” as well as a James Bond villain in “License to Kill,” may have been born and raised in a tight-knit Italian family in Queens, New York but Los Angeles became his adopted home in 1977.
Like many others before and after him, he headed west to the Golden State when his on-screen career began to take off, and he grew accustomed to the California lifestyle.
Actor and singer Robert Davi says crime and homelessness pushed him out of California. (Amanda Edwards/Getty Images)
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But for Davi, who has also been vocal about what he sees as a political blacklist in Hollywood because of his support for President Donald Trump, there were multiple breaking points that he said ultimately led him to sell his home and leave the state for Florida.
This January will mark four years since he and his family joined other Californians who left for the Sunshine State.
“The overwhelming influx of homelessness in all communities, the political corruption and the waste of money by the local education agencies in Los Angeles that’s not used for students but for administration costs, and most of that goes to the political party of their choice, and the mismanagement of the LA fires were all [contributing] factors,” Davi told Fox News Digital.
Actor Robert Davi, left, criticized New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, right, after the city’s immigrant enclaves map initially omitted Little Italy. (Erika Goldring/Getty Images; Heather Khalifa/AP Photo)
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“When I first came to LA, I could go to CVS and it was fine. I could go to a store. It was fine. Now they have gates, they have guards and items are behind lock and key because of the rampant crime,” Davi added, noting, “It’s about people coming in and the acceptable aspect of going into any store and ripping off what they want and not being stopped.”
Still, like many who fall in love with California’s weather and relaxed lifestyle, Davi hung on to the home he loved, hoping what he saw as rising crime and political dysfunction might somehow improve.
But it was the Dec. 1, 2021, home invasion and killing of Jacqueline Avant — the wife of Grammy-winning music executive Clarence Avant — at her Beverly Hills home that became the last straw for Davi.
The 81-year-old was the mother of Alexander Avant and Nicole Avant, the former U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas and wife of Netflix co-CEO and chief content officer, Ted Sarandos.
Davi is known for performing the music of his idol, Frank Sinatra. (Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
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“Why did I leave California? It was knowing this and watching this happen. It was the nail in my coffin,” Davi said. “California was seeping into this s—, the crime that was happening within communities and continually encroaching into communities … a home invasion and murder by a criminal that was let go three different times?”
A classically trained singer in both opera and traditional pop and jazz, Davi is known for performing the music of his idol, Frank Sinatra. He is also closely associated with Hollywood’s music community, strongly supports teaching musical instruments in schools and was close to the late record producer and composer Quincy Jones. Jones, in turn, was close with Clarence Avant.
For Davi, the incident resonated deeply. Within months, he and his family moved out of the state.
“Goonies” star Robert Davi says he left California for Florida over rising crime, homelessness and a Hollywood blacklist tied to his support for Donald Trump. (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Davi wondered about what he considers a key question: how did California and Hollywood, in particular, get so left-wing?
Davi recalled the days when Ronald Reagan was running for president, noting how hard those in Hollywood were on the actor-turned-politician at the time, but how conservatives didn’t have to hide their beliefs back then. Davi played Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in the 2024 biopic “Reagan,” which was re-released in theaters on Sept. 25.
“The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) wasn’t afraid. Conservatives were not afraid to talk. Johnny Carson was fair,” Davi said.
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“You had conservatives that were big stars that spoke out and you had liberals. Since that time, liberalism has taken on another form,” he explained.
Fox News Digital reaching out to California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office for comment.