Nicolas Cage Sinkhole Dispute Escalates as Neighbors Are Forced From Homes

Nicolas Cage’s Malibu neighbors have been told to leave their homes after a large sinkhole opened on his street and swallowed the driveway of his $10.5 million beachfront mansion.

Firefighters came across the damage early Tuesday morning while responding to a suspected gas main break, a public information officer told KTLA.

Later that day, the City of Malibu issued an emergency order, warning of an “imminent danger” to residents along Cage’s street, Sea Level Drive.

By then, seven homes had been red-tagged, a designation that means they are unsafe to occupy, because of “hazardous conditions” caused by the sinkhole.

Officials said another 24 residences were also set to be red-tagged because damage to the road had blocked “safe vehicular access” to the properties.

Cage, who bought his Sea Level Drive home in 2024, has not been reported seen near the property since the crater appeared.

The Daily Mail has reached out to Cage’s representative for comment.

The sinkhole, according to the City of Malibu, had an astonishing estimated width of 30 by 60ft and a depth of approximately 25 to 30ft. 

Such a ‘large portion’ of Sea Level Drive has ‘collapsed’ that large emergency vehicles like fire trucks can no longer get through, the proclamation said.

‘Gas service to the affected area has been shut off, and water service may also be discontinued as conditions warrant,’ the authorities noted.

The scale of the threat was compounded by the intensified tides and rainfall caused by Hurricane Marie, as well as a particularly strong El Nino that a government forecast has given a 90 percent chance of escalating into a ‘super’ event.

Evacuees will be able to take refuge at a temporary shelter the American Red Cross is setting up at Malibu High School, the City of Malibu advised on its website. 

Photos of the destruction Tuesday showed the once-palatial property sitting on the edge of a massive crater that has taken down the driveway, a portion of the adjacent street and a portable restroom. 

The luxurious residence had been sectioned off with construction cones, and workers could be seen assessing the situation in the sinkhole and along the street.

The hole was reportedly the result of coastal erosion. 

KTLA reporter Rich Prickett, who was reporting on the incident from the air, said no one appeared to be inside Cage’s residence at the time. 

‘Substantial damage done to this home, or at least the driveway to this home here in Malibu,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t appear that anybody was home. As a matter of fact, the house looks like it is under some sort of renovation.’ 

No one has been reported to have been injured, according to KTLA. 

Located in a highly desirable oceanfront setting, the home contains a rooftop deck with jacuzzi, soaring glass walls, multiple bedrooms and was the previous owner’s ‘happy place.’

The home was built in the 1990s by the late Jose Liberman, co-founder of the Liberman Broadcasting, and remained in his family until it was sold to Cage.

‘Yes, Nicolas Cage bought our home in Malibu,’ Lenard Liberman, Jose’s son and Liberman Broadcasting co-founder, told The New York Times in 2024.

‘My parents would go on weekends and it was my father’s “happy place”, he explained.

‘My father passed away and my mom just couldn’t go to the house anymore. Too many memories,’ he added.

The residence contains access to an isolated beach, chef’s kitchen and garage with elevator access. 

An Oscar winner, Cage is a member of a Hollywood dynasty.

Born Nicolas Kim Coppola, Cage is the son of the late American academic and author August Coppola as well as the nephew of film-maker Francis Ford Coppola and his actress sister Talia Shire. 

The family includes Cage’s cousins, film-maker Sofia Coppola and actor Jason Schwartzman. 

His grandparents were composer Carmine Coppola, who scored many of Francis’s films, and Italia Coppola, who also appeared in her son’s Godfather films. 

Over the decades, Cage carved out a wildly impressive acting career with roles in films Moonstruck, Raising Arizona, Gone in 60 Seconds, National Treasure and an Oscar win for Leaving Las Vegas.  

Last year Cage legally changed his name to ‘Nick Cage’ to avoid being the Coppola ‘clown cousin.’

‘I am Nick Cage. I changed my name legally last year,’ he told Variety. 

The name was inspired by Marvel character Luke Cage, a last name he thought was ‘cool.’

‘I’m Nick Cage in life, and I’m Nick Cage on camera. ‘Tis better to be the patriarch of my own little family than the clown cousin on the margins of someone else’s, so I decided I’m going to bring it on and be “Cage.”

‘”Cage” is a name that I liked coming across in the comics – I just thought he had a cool name – and I grew up in a very avant-garde, artsy family and there was talk about John Cage and the experimental compositions that he did. I was looking for something like “James Dean”; I was looking for something short and sweet. 

‘I thought, well, I’ll keep the name “Nicolas” because my father named me Nicolas -with French spelling, which has always frustrated me, because everyone adds an “h.” I don’t know why he gave me the French spelling! But he did.’

Whether he prefers ‘Nick’ or ‘Nicolas,’ the actor told Variety: ‘I’m both! I think people know me as both.’ 

In 2021, Cage walked down the aisle a fifth time when he wed his much-younger wife Riko Shibata, now age 31. They welcomed daughter August Francesca in 2022.

The actor also has sons Kal-El, 18, with ex-wife Kim and Weston, 33, with ex-girlfriend Christina Fulton.