Joe Manganiello’s fiancée Caitlin O’Connor says the couple left LA due to fears of rising crime and a slump in the entertainment industry

Actor Joe Manganiello‘s fiancée, Caitlin O’Connorhas revealed that the couple made the decision to leave Los Angeles for good due to their fears of the city’s “all-time high” crime rate, coupled with Hollywood’s dwindling entertainment industry.

O’Connor, 36, and Manganiello, 49, confirmed in December that they had left LA after 20 years and returned to their hometown of Pittsburgh. People at the time they had found a new home in Mount Lebanon, a suburb of the city.

Now, O’Connor, who started dating the ‘True Blood’ star in 2023, shortly before his divorce from Sofia Vergara was completed, has opened up about the real reasons for their move, tellingly Fox News digital that the couple no longer felt safe in the City of Angels.

She noted that the couple spent a lot of time discussing whether or not to stay in LA, but ultimately decided the time was right to move when they happened upon the perfect house in Pittsburgh.

“Crime in Los Angeles is at an all-time high. We thought about it for a long time and the right house happened to show up. We went to look at it in Pittsburgh and it was perfect for us,” she said.

Despite O’Connor’s claims about the crime rate in Los Angeles last month, The Los Angeles Times reported that 2025 was the city’s safest year per capita since 1959, adding that the homicide rate was the lowest in more than half a century.

The L.A.P.D also reported that property crimes are down about 6.7% from 2024, while homicides are down 19%.

Still, the “Electric Love” alum noted that there were other reasons behind her and Manganiello’s move, namely the slump of the city’s entertainment industry.

“Also, LA is no longer the entertainment capital of the world. Actors don’t audition there anymore. Many casting directors no longer have offices there,” she said.

She noted that many auditions are now taking place over Zoom and that “a lot of premieres are happening in New York,” noting that entertainment hot spots are changing as studios expand their reach.

“There are studios being built in New Jersey, and things are moving overseas. A lot of projects are being filmed overseas, even by professionals who have worked on set in LA all their lives. The industry has moved. It doesn’t exist anymore,” she said.

O’Connor explained that the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the industry, giving actors more freedom when it comes to their living situations.

“You can really work from anywhere, and you can travel from your home base to wherever you’re filming, so we decided to take a different approach and have our home base be in Pittsburgh,” she said.

O’Connor isn’t the first person to sound the alarm about Hollywood’s decline as an entertainment power player.

In July, Vulture published a report on the decline of LA’s industry, quoting industry insiders who said the city was increasingly feeling “like a Rust Belt crater.”

“It’s so grim, like a sad company town where the factory is closing,” an anonymous executive told the publication.

Today, only about 1 in 5 American movies and shows are shot in Los Angeles. And the reasons are many: the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, wildfires, worker strikes, the decline of movie theaters, and healthy tax breaks offered by other states.

Many major box office stars are also no longer tied to the area. Celebrities like Mark Wahlberg, Chris Evans, Matthew McConaughey, Glenn PowellAnd Rachel McAdams have all left California.

President Donald Trump has announced plans to try to restore Hollywood’s luster, tellingly the California Post in January that he would impose tariffs on all films made outside the US, including films shot in Canada.

“I’m going to put tariffs on films from outside the country – if they’re made in Canada, if they’re made in all these places, because Los Angeles has lost the film industry,” he said.

“And so I’m going to raise tariffs and we’re going to do bonds, some bonds, some low-interest bonds, for the film industry. We’re bringing it back.”

However, O’Connor noted that she and Manganiello are completely happy with their new life in Pittsburgh, telling People in December that the couple had settled into the area with ease — helped by the fact that they both grew up in the city.

“I mean, LA has been our home for over 20 years. I was born in LA, but raised in Pittsburgh, so we’re both from the same hometown,” she said.

She noted that they feel much safer in their new home, adding, “I’ve never been in a nicer neighborhood in Pittsburgh. It’s just idyllic.”

O’Connor assured fans that she and Manganiello still plan to travel.

“Joe and I have been on a world tour since we met. We’ve traveled a lot in the last two years… to over 70 cities. So we have jewelry from all over the world. We’re trying to collect a work of art from all over the world and bring it back,” she said.