Robert Davi has pinpointed the 2021 murder of Jacqueline Avant as the decisive moment that drove him to abandon California for Florida.
The “Die Hard” actor, 75, had spent more than four decades in Los Angeles after arriving in 1977 to build his screen career. Known for tough-guy roles in “The Goonies” and as a Bond villain in “License to Kill,” the Queens-born performer had put down roots and embraced the California lifestyle despite growing political friction with Hollywood’s dominant culture.
Davi said that multiple factors had been eroding his commitment to the state. “The overwhelming influx of homelessness in all communities, the political corruption and the waste of money by the local education agencies in Los Angeles that’s not used for students but for administration costs, and most of that goes to the political party of their choice, and the mismanagement of the LA fires were all [contributing] factors,” he said.
The transformation of everyday commercial life also grated on him. “When I first came to LA, I could go to CVS and it was fine. I could go to a store. It was fine. Now they have gates, they have guards and items are behind lock and key because of the rampant crime,” Davi added, observing, “It’s about people coming in and the acceptable aspect of going into any store and ripping off what they want and not being stopped.”
Still, Davi held on, reluctant to surrender the weather and lifestyle he had grown to love.
The breaking point came December 1, 2021, when Avant, 81, was killed during a home invasion at her Beverly Hills residence. She was the wife of Grammy-winning music executive Clarence Avant, mother of former U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas Nicole Avant, and mother-in-law of Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos.
Davi’s connection to the Avants ran through his deep ties to music. A classically trained singer in opera, pop and jazz, he built a career performing the songs of his idol Frank Sinatra. He was close to the late producer Quincy Jones, who in turn was close with Clarence Avant. The murder struck Davi as both personally and symbolically devastating.
“Why did I leave California? It was knowing this and watching this happen. It was the nail in my coffin,” Davi said. “California was seeping into this s—, the crime that was happening within communities and continually encroaching into communities … a home invasion and murder by a criminal that was let go three different times?”
Within months of the killing, Davi and his family joined the exodus of Californians relocating to Florida. This January will mark four years since the move.
Davi has been vocal about what he describes as a political blacklist in Hollywood over his support for President Donald Trump. He traced the industry’s leftward shift across decades, recalling the Reagan era as a time when ideological differences remained more navigable.
“The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) wasn’t afraid. Conservatives were not afraid to talk. Johnny Carson was fair,” Davi said. “You had conservatives that were big stars that spoke out and you had liberals. Since that time, liberalism has taken on another form,” he continued.
Davi portrayed Soviet leader Leon Brezhnev in the 2024 biopic “Reagan,” which returned to theaters September 25.