Gavin Newsom has spent $24 billion turning California into a medieval warlord state.
Now one of Hollywood’s biggest stars just said it out loud.
And Dan Aykroyd revealed why he’s gated up, afraid to drive at night, and unable to take his family to the park after dark.
The Ghostbuster Sees What Democrats Won’t
Aykroyd appeared on a resurfaced episode of The Adam Carolla Show and confirmed what millions of Californians quietly know.
“It’s beautiful there,” he said of Santa Monica – “beautiful houses and beautiful shops and lovely wide boulevards and 60,000 homeless.”
He didn’t stop there.
“We’re living in frankly medieval times,” the Ghostbusters star said.
He drives “very carefully.”
He doesn’t drive during what he called “prison hours” at night.
He lives in a gated community.
https://twitter.com/dan_aykroyd/status/2087644879308431524?s=20
He told Carolla he wishes he could take his family to the park at 1 in the morning.
“But, no,” Aykroyd said. “We have to be so guarded now.”
This is a 74-year-old celebrity who made his career celebrating American entertainment – Blues Brothers, Saturday Night Live, Ghostbusters – describing his daily life in Los Angeles as a medieval survival exercise.
He’s not wrong.
Newsom Spent 24 Billion and Made It Worse
The city of Los Angeles counted 45,194 homeless people in 2026 – a 3.4% increase after two straight years of supposed progress.
Unsheltered homelessness – people living in cars, tents, and on sidewalks – jumped 7.9% in a single year.
The county-wide total hit 73,040 people without homes.
California has spent roughly $24 billion on homeless programs since 2018.
The result is medieval times.
Democrats defunded LAHSA – the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority – after a federal review caught the agency losing track of billions in taxpayer money while the crisis got worse.
Then HUD cut off LAHSA’s federal funding entirely in June 2026.
https://twitter.com/californiapost/status/2088068951074820438?s=20
LAHSA responded by suing the federal government.
So the agency that lost track of billions is now suing the people who cut off the funding.
That’s California governance.
Over 1.7 million people have left California since 2020.
They didn’t leave because of the weather.
Hollywood Sees It – Democrats Still Don’t
Dan Aykroyd isn’t the first Hollywood figure to notice.
Scott Baio left after 45 years.
Mark Wahlberg left.
Tim Allen left.
Joe Rogan left.
Elon Musk took SpaceX and X to Texas.
Jillian Michaels went to Florida and said Newsom’s progressive policies had driven the state into decline.
These aren’t right-wing activists.
These are people who lived there, watched it happen, and made the rational choice.
Carolla summed it up on the same podcast: “You have Jay-Z and Beyoncé buy a $200 million house in Malibu, but in order to get there, you have to drive through a homeless encampment.”
Aykroyd is still there – still in his gated community, still skipping the drive after dark, still watching tent cities sprawl between the luxury boutiques on Santa Monica’s wide boulevards.
In medieval times, the wealthy lived behind walls.
https://twitter.com/dan_aykroyd/status/1929952823317614802?s=20
Peasants suffered in the streets.
Law enforcement couldn’t or wouldn’t keep order.
You didn’t walk alone at night.
That’s Santa Monica in 2026 – with a $200 million celebrity mansion on one end and an encampment blocking the driveway on the other.
Newsom spent years telling California – and then the country – that progressive governance was the future.
Dan Aykroyd just drove through the result.
Sources:
- Tracy Wright, “Dan Aykroyd Details ‘Medieval Times’ Reality of California While Praising Life in Canada,” Fox News, August 13, 2026.
- “Unsheltered Homelessness in Santa Monica Falls 18.7 Percent,” City of Santa Monica, July 24, 2026.
- “2026 Homeless Count: Unhoused Population Rises Across L.A. City and L.A. County,” Santa Monica Mirror, July 2026.
- “LA Homelessness Rises in 2026 Count as Economic Strain, Subsidy Cuts Stall Progress,” FOX 11 Los Angeles, July 2026.
- “California Exodus Continues as Millions Flee Newsom’s Policies,” San Diego Today, March 28, 2026.