Former Growing Pains star Kirk Cameron has claimed he left California because of “how terrible the politics are.”
Cameron, 55, first found fame playing teen heartthrob Mike Seaver in the popular ABC sitcom Growing Pains from 1985 to 1992.
Since then, the actor, who is an evangelical Christian, has predominantly appeared in faith-based films including 2008’s Fireproof and 2014’s Saving Christmas.
Speaking on a recent episode of the Adam Corolla Podcast, Cameron discussed his decision to leave Hollywood for Tennessee and said, “When you’re a kid in California it’s great because your parents are paying for everything.”
“So, you go to the beach, you’re hanging out, you’re going snow skiing, you get to eat an In-N-Out burger, you get to get some hot dogs downtown in Hollywood. It’s great. You’re having a good time.”
“But then, like my kids, they finally got out on their own, and they realized how expensive it is,” he continued. “They realize how terrible the politics are and all of the other things that make it difficult to raise a family there.”
“And so all of a sudden it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, we got to move. We got to go somewhere where we can actually thrive and maybe even just survive.’”
Cameron now lives in Nashville. “There’s so many creatives here that have good values,” he said. “They love their family. They’re proud of their country — and the whiskey is great. So, if you like whiskey and hot chicken, Nashville is the place to be.”
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In 2024, Cameron sparked a social media backlash after claiming in an interview that US public schools turn children into “little atheists, drag queens [and] strippers.”
During an appearance on Elizabeth Johnston’s podcast for an episode titled “The Radical Attack on Family Values,” Cameron argued against sending children to public schools.
“If we outsource our parenting because it’s easier or we believe the lie that we’re not qualified experts to educate our kids so we have to subcontract our parenting and discipleship out to the government, we’re gonna have little kids that come back as little Marxists, little statists, little atheists, drag queens, strippers, drug dealers, and you name it,” he said.
Cameron also claimed that libraries are “woke” and took several shots at drag queens.
The actor’s comments were met with a fierce response across social media.
One former fan wrote: “I hate Kirk Cameron just as much as teenage me loved him and that was an enormously huge amount of love.”
Another commented: “Kirk Cameron is the biggest disappointment from my childhood. And his sister is just as bad. Nobody hates more than christians nobody. Christians are some of the most anti christian people on the planet and it’s not even close.”
