Current:Home > StocksKim Kardashian, Kevin Hart and Sylvester Stallone are accused of massive water waste -TrueNorth Finance Path
Kim Kardashian, Kevin Hart and Sylvester Stallone are accused of massive water waste
View
Date:2025-04-14 03:33:46
Some of Los Angeles' most famous celebrities are getting put on blast after being outed for their excessive water use amid a severe drought emergency throughout Southern California.
Kim Kardashian and her sister Kourtney are among Southern California's worst offenders, Mike McNutt, a spokesman for the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District told NPR.
The pair have received "notices of exceedance" from the district, which serves the wealthy cities of Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Hidden Hills and Westlake Village. Those notices are given to district residents who have surpassed their monthly water usage budget allotted by the department at least four times, McNutt said.
And the reality stars are not the only ones.
Comedian Kevin Hart, former NBA star Dwyane Wade and his wife, actress Gabrielle Union, and Sylvester Stallone have also continued to exceed district limits despite repeated warnings and fines. Now, the water department could install flow restriction devices that can reduce gushing showers to a mere trickle, and would almost certainly turn the rolling lawns surrounding their respective mansions brown.
The violations were first reported by the Los Angeles Times. On Tuesday, McNutt confirmed the data, adding that, in all, more than 1,600 residents are breaking the rules.
He noted that the district is 100% reliant on imported water from the Sierra Nevada mountains 400 miles away. "We have no groundwater, we have no other alternative sources to draw from," he added.
McNutt said the Kardashians have flouted their official water allowance by 150% or more for several months since water conservation efforts were first implemented at the end of last year.
By the utility's count, he said, Kim Kardashian's two adjoining lots in Hidden Hills, guzzled their June allotment and then some, going over by about 232,000 gallons. Her sister, Kourtney, who lives in Calabasas, drained another 101,000 gallons in excess. Combined, that amount of water would fill half of an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
Dwyane Wade and wife Gabrielle Union appear to have begun to make some progress in reining in water usage on their property in the month of June, going over by 90,000 gallons. But their May bill was staggering — they used an extra 489,000 gallons of water that month due to a swimming pool malfunction, the couple said in a statement to the Times.
Meanwhile, a representative for Sylvester Stallone and his model wife, Jennifer Flavin, told the Times that their property has many large, mature fruit trees that would be at risk without sufficient watering. In June, the couple used 230,000 excess gallons of water – more than 533% than their allocated budget.
Kevin Hart's 26-acre Calabasas property also got more than 117,000 gallons than is budgeted for such a parcel.
McNutt explained the department has a formula for calculating fines for those who flagrantly eschew conservation guidelines. But he acknowledges that they're hardly a deterrent for the rich and famous.
"For the celebrities or musicians or athletes who all live in the area, monetary penalties are going to be meaningless to them because it doesn't matter. They have plenty of money and if they want to, they could spend $5,000 a month on a water bill," he said.
Indeed, Kim Kardashian, whose empire now includes a line of undergarments called Skims, was billed approximately $2,325 for her overuse. That's the equivalent of about 38 bodysuits, which retail for $62 a piece. Hart's fine for June, is about $1,170, less than the cost of three second-row tickets to the comedian's show in Chicago on Thursday. (Single tickets are selling for $382 each, plus fees.)
Now the district wants to hit people where it really hurts.
According to McNutt, that would mean installing a flow restriction device that would automatically reduce outside water usage by 70%.
People who prioritize lush, green landscaping over conservation must "understand that what they're doing is they're taking water away from somebody that could be miles and miles and miles away ... who needs it for cooking, cleaning, or bathing," McNutt said.
NPR's Greta Pittenger contributed to this report.
veryGood! (79)
Related
- Sam Taylor
- Inch by inch, Ukrainian commanders ready for long war: Reporter's notebook
- WGA Reaches Tentative Agreement With Studios to End Writers Strike
- Third person charged in fentanyl-exposure death of 1-year-old at Bronx daycare center
- Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
- RYDER CUP ’23: A glossary of golf terms in Italian for the event outside Rome
- Kim Kardashian rocks a grown-out buzzcut, ultra-thin '90s brows in new photoshoot: See the photos
- Supreme Court's interpretation of the word and could affect thousands of prison sentences each year
- The FBI should have done more to collect intelligence before the Capitol riot, watchdog finds
- Video shows California deputy slamming 16-year-old girl to the ground outside football game
Ranking
- As Trump Enters Office, a Ripe Oil and Gas Target Appears: An Alabama National Forest
- North Carolina to launch Medicaid expansion on Dec. 1
- How much does tattoo removal cost? Everything you need to know about the laser sessions
- Kari Lake’s trial to review signed ballot envelopes from Arizona election wraps
- Why members of two of EPA's influential science advisory committees were let go
- Former President Jimmy Carter attends Georgia peanut festival ahead of his 99th birthday
- UAW demands cost-of-living salary adjustment as Americans feel pinch of inflation
- Trump lawyers say prosecutors want to ‘silence’ him with gag order in his federal 2020 election case
Recommendation
Realtor group picks top 10 housing hot spots for 2025: Did your city make the list?
Influential Kansas House committee leader to step down next month
Perdue Farms and Tyson Foods under federal inquiry over reports of illegal child labor
Japan’s Kishida unveils the gist of a new economic package as support for his government dwindles
Tree trimmer dead after getting caught in wood chipper at Florida town hall
How would you like it if a viral TikTok labeled your loved ones 'zombie-like addicts'?
Oregon’s top court asked to decide if GOP senators who boycotted Legislature can be reelected
Florida's coastal homes may lose value as climate-fueled storms intensify insurance risk