Sofia Richie Sends 'Love and Prayers' to Those Affected by California Fires After 'Insensitive' Caption
Sofia Richie is offering support to those displaced by the California wildfires this week after posting a photo that some of her followers found insensitive.
On Tuesday, Richie, 21, shared a heartfelt message on her Instagram Story writing, “Sending my love and prayers to everyone affected by the fires.”
Alongside a broken heart GIF, Richie continued: “Tonight’s wind is going to be brutal. Please stay safe.”
Just hours before sending her well wishes, the model found herself in hot water with fans after she posted a pair of photos on Instagram that showed her posing in a baggy white t-shirt, snakeskin pants and black peep-toe heels. She swept her blonde hair up into a top knot.
However, it wasn’t the actual photo that prompted backlash, but instead the caption.
“Santa Ana winds- messy bun ?????♀?” Richie wrote, and in light of the chaos, some Instagram users called her casual mention of the Santa Ana winds “insensitive.”
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The strongest Santa Ana wind event of the season was expected Wednesday, ABC7 reported, and it was high winds that caused a tree branch to fall onto a city power line and ignite the Getty Fire.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said Wednesday that “winds are forecasted to be 30-50 mph with peak wind gusts up to 70 mph,” and that Los Angeles is facing “an extreme fire weather threat, meaning that conditions are as dangerous for fire growth and behavior as we have seen in recent years.”
Richie continued to speak about the fires on Wednesday, sharing a video of a local ABC7 station report on the Brush Fire in Simi Valley, and writing “No!!!” atop the clip.
She also shared a video that demonstrated just how windy it is in Los Angeles, showing water from her pool whipping up into the air.
RELATED: LeBron James, Arnold Schwarzenegger Among Stars Evacuating L.A. Homes Amid Getty Fire
“My God,” she can be heard saying. “This is… woah. A little scared, a little scared.”
Several other celebrities have been offering encouraging words to those in the danger zone, and are urging people to heed firefighters’ warnings.
“#GettyFire This is what we woke up too,” Sex and the City star Kristin Davis said in a tweet Monday, including a photo of an orange sky. “We are safe- children and dogs. Thank you @LAFDwest and please everyone leave if you are in evacuation area. Stay safe.”
RELATED VIDEO: Wildfires Are Sweeping Across California Causing Thousands to Evacuate
Busy Phillips said on Twitter, “All my friends in LA, I love you, stay safe, please leave with your pets if you are told you need to.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger said Monday that he was one of the many forced to evacuate, and told anyone in an evacuation zone to “get out.”
“We evacuated safely at 3:30 this morning. If you are in an evacuation zone, don’t screw around. Get out. Right now I am grateful for the best firefighters in the world, the true action heroes who charge into the danger to protect their fellow Californians. #GettyFire”
LeBron James also had to evacuate, and wrote on Twitter, “I [pray] for all the families in the area that could be affected by these [fires] now! Pretty please get to safety ASAP.”