Neighbors Want Val Kilmer 'Out of New Mexico'

Val Kilmer has lived in New Mexico for years, but apparently hasn’t managed to get too friendly with the neighbors, who are now attempting to block permits for the actor to turn his ranch outside Santa Fe into a bed and breakfast. Several years after the fact, New Mexicans are still smarting from Kilmer’s comments describing his area as “the homicide capital of the Southwest,” and later adding that “80 percent of the people in my county are drunk.” Locals are now demanding an apology before Kilmer’s permits can go through, and one said, “That’s all he has to do, come and apologize. We’re not intimidated by him.” Though one county attorney described the comments as causing a “clear and present danger threatening public safety,” Kilmer has since gained unlikely support from New Mexico’s ACLU, which argues that past comments should not affect the status of his permits. Kilmer is expected to personally appear before the Board of County Commissioners to handle the dispute, but one resident said simply, “People here want him out of New Mexico.”