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Hollywood heavyweight Mel Gibson and his longtime partner, Rosalind Ross, have announced that they have separated after nine years together—almost one year to the day since the actor lost his Malibu mansion to the California wildfires.

Gibson, 69, and Ross, 35, shared the news via a joint statement to People, in which they confirmed that they quietly split one year ago, around the same time that their property was destroyed in the devastating blazes.

The couple, who began dating in 2014 after meeting through a mutual friend, share 8-year-old son Lars and expressed their determination to continue co-parenting.

“Although it’s sad to end this chapter in our lives, we are blessed with a beautiful son and will continue to be the best parents possible,” Gibson and Ross told the outlet.

The actor has eight other children. He shares daughter Hannah and sons Christian, Edward, William, Louis, Milo, and Thomas with ex-wife Robyn Moore, and daughter Lucia, 16, with Oksana Grigorieva, whom he separated from in 2010.

The news of Gibson and Ross’ split comes nearly a year after the actor’s longtime Malibu mansion burned to the ground in the devastating California wildfires.

The “Braveheart” star purchased the hilltop dwelling in 2008 for $11.5 million and has made two attempts to offload it in the years since, most recently in 2019 for $14.5 million.

However, after delisting the property in July of that same year, Gibson seemed content to hold on to the enormous five-bedroom, five-bathroom abode, only for disaster to strike in January, when the home was decimated by the Pacific Palisades fire that tore through more than 23,000 acres, destroying hundreds of houses in the process.

At the time, Gibson hit out at California Gov. Gavin Newsom over the handling of the wildfires.

“In 2019, I think Newsom said, you know, ‘I’m going to take care of the forest and maintain the forest’ and do all that kind of stuff. He didn’t do anything,” Gibson said during an appearance on Joe Rogan‘s podcast.

He also revealed to NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas that he was not home when the fires broke out, explaining that he arrived back at his dwelling to find that it had burned to the ground.

“When I got home, sure enough, it wasn’t there. I have never seen a place so perfectly burnt,” he shared. “There was a dozen places or so that were just nonexistent. I mean, nothing but a chimney and a few roof tiles, and you dare not walk around for the nails and the whole deal. The vehicles were gone, everything. My place looked like Dresden.”

While some fire victims have chosen to walk away from their destroyed properties—opting to sell the land rather than go through the arduous process of rebuilding—images of Gibson’s home suggested that he was fully committed to rebuilding the mansion that he had called home for more than 15 years.

Photos obtained by Realtor.com® in June revealed that Gibson had made serious headway with preparing for a new structure to be built—indicating that the remaining rubble of his former property had been completely cleared.

The images showed that the area where the home once sat had been carefully tended to and what appeared to be a new foundation had been laid.

Meanwhile, the landscaping around the dwelling was revived—making way for lush vegetation to once again surround the opulent property.

Similarly, the property’s pool house—which was also destroyed by the fires—had been cleared out to make way for a new foundation.

The images indicated that Gibson was planning to build a structure that is similar to the property that once stood on the 5.5-acre plot. It had boasted soaring wood-beamed ceilings, wood floors, and stone archways.

When the home was last put on the market in 2019, listing agent Sandro Dazzan described the property as having “the warmth of an old-world estate,” while also boasting a “light and airy beachy vibe.”

The original estate offered 6,578 square feet of living space, including a five-bedroom, five-bathroom main house, a pool house that was being used as a gym, and a detached guesthouse above a three-car garage.

While Gibson—who has an estimated net worth of $425 million—might be able to re-create the hilltop sanctuary that once stood on his property, he noted shortly after the wildfires that the most important and meaningful things he lost in the fire were irreplaceable.

“It’s emotional. You know, I lived there for about 14, 15 years, so it was home to me, and I had a lot of personal things there that, you know, I can’t get back,” he told NewsNation.

“All kinds of stuff. Everything from photographs to files to, you know, just personal things that I had from over the years, and clothing, and you know, cool stuff.”

He did manage to see some humor in the situation, telling Vargas that he was trying to view the incident as an opportunity to look to the future and move on from the aspects of the home that weren’t so enjoyable.

“I went home and I said to myself, ‘Well, at least I haven’t got any of those pesky plumbing problems anymore,'” he said.

Gibson also expressed his gratitude that his loved ones were safe and had not been harmed in the wildfires, which claimed the lives of 30 people.

“The good news is that those in my family and those I love are all well, and we’re all happy and healthy and out of harm’s way. That’s all I can care about, really,” he added.

The actor was one of dozens of celebrities who lost their homes to the January wildfires, with stars such as Adam Brody and Leighton Meester, Paris Hilton, Cameron Mathison, Billy Crystal, and Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag all confirming that their properties had been destroyed.

In March, a report from the UCLA Anderson Forecast put the estimated property and capital damage from the Pacific Palisades and Eaton fires at $76 billion to $131 billion, with insured losses potentially reaching $45 billion. 

Meanwhile, homeowners in the areas that were affected by the wildfires are facing a daunting task in rebuilding their properties, a costly process that involves a great deal of red tape.

By the end of March, only four permits had been approved for homeowners wanting to rebuild, a number that was quickly criticized by local leaders, despite Mayor Karen Bass hailing it as a major milestone in the city’s recovery.

The first permit was issued by the city on March 5, clearing the way for homeowners to fix up their wrecked properties in the star-studded Pacific Palisades neighborhood, where some 6,800 homes either burned to the ground or were seriously damaged.  

Among the first three permits approved by the city, two were for complete rebuilds: one in the Palisades section and another overlooking Pacific Coast Highway.

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