Professor Walks Back Calling It “Karma” After Trump-Supporting Actor Loses Home In LA Wildfires

Authored by Garielle Temaat via The College Fix,

University of Missouri Professor Karen Piper touted the destruction of Trump-supporting actor James Woods’ house in the California wildfires, calling it “karma” in an X post on Tuesday, before walking it back in a statement to The College Fix, calling it a “joke.”

“James Woods’ house is burning down. It’s karma calling,” wrote the scholar, who is retired but will teach one online class this spring semester. She has since deleted her post after backlash.

In an email statement Wednesday to The College Fix, Piper said she does not “wish anyone any harm.”

“The situation in California is heartbreaking and devastating. As a Californian, I am particularly distraught by seeing the devastation of so many beloved places I used to call home,” she said.

“That tweet was before I learned how catastrophic the situation was becoming. I didn’t think it might actually happen! It was meant as a joke. My prayers are with all of the victims,” Piper said.

University spokesperson Christopher Ave told The College Fix via email that the school finds Piper’s statement “deeply offensive.”

“[I]t does not reflect the university’s viewpoint or values. We are reviewing this matter,” Ave stated.

“Piper is retired from the faculty. At this point, she is scheduled to teach one online, upper-level class in creative writing in the spring semester,” he stated.

The Fix also reached out to Piper via phone and email for clarification on her statement, but she did not immediately respond.

Piper’s faculty page on the university’s website now states users are “not authorized” to access the page.

According to a screenshot of the page posted to X, however, she has taught “environmental discourse and policy” and “climate change fiction” at the school.

She has also written a book, “Left in the Dust: How Race and Politics Created a Human and Environmental Tragedy in L.A.,” which “examines the environmental justice issues surrounding water pollution and scarcity in Los Angeles.”

Woods is an Oscar-nominated actor well-known for publicly supporting President-elect Donald Trump.

The actor has called Trump “a man who is willing to work for free to make his beloved country a better place” and “the voice of the American people,” Newsweek reported.

In a post on X, Woods stated, “I couldn’t believe our lovely little home in the hills held on this long. It feels like losing a loved one.”

Woods also posted videos of the flames approaching his house.

Our deck three minutes ago. pic.twitter.com/KpZDELpN8L

— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) January 7, 2025

Leaving pic.twitter.com/yJDQ8xIhbI

— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) January 7, 2025

Numerous X users condemned Piper’s post, including Claremont Institute Senior Fellow Jeremy Carl.

“Hey @Mizzou are you okay with one of your faculty members tweeting this about James Woods?” Carl wrote. “I guarantee you [Republican Sen. Josh Hawley] isn’t.”

Additionally, novelist and screenwriter Roger Simon stated in a Substack post that he “agree[s] with the actor James Woods who lost his house and has blamed the extent of the L. A. fires on ‘liberal idiots.’”

He also commended Woods for exposing the L.A. police chief’s diversity, equity, and inclusion priorities.

“Woods again put it well, noting that refilling the reservoirs might have been a priority of hers in such a parched area while quoting the chief’s bio that exposes her real priorities that have nothing to do with fighting fires,” Simon stated.