Nicole Richie’s 40th birthday got off to a fiery start. As the reality star held a gathering in her backyard with friends and family on Tuesday to celebrate her turning the big 4-0, the birthday celebrations nearly led to a major disaster when Richie’s hair caught fire as she went to blow out the candles on her cake.
The scary moment was caught on camera, with Richie hilariously marking a new year of life by sharing the clip to Instagram Tuesday evening. In the video, Richie sat at a table with a birthday cake in front of her that featured a throwback photo to her childhood and read, “Happy Birthday Nicole.” However, while everything seemed fun and happy, things took a scary turn as Richie leaned down to make her birthday wish and blow the candles out. The video captured the exact moment her hair drifted over the flames and caught fire, and while it seemed to take Richie a moment to notice, the happiness quickly turned to panic when screams rang out. Thankfully, Richie was able to pat out the flames, and she seemed uninjured. She went on to joke about the scenario in her birthday post, which she captioned, “well… so far 40 is [fire emoji].”
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The post drew plenty of reactions from Richie’s famous friends, with Kelly Rowland writing, “my heart just dropped” and celeb stylist Jamie Mizrahi commenting, “twas a hot hot hot night.” Another of Richie’s friends, Katherine Power, added that it was “a moment I’ll never forget.” Meanwhile, Amy Schumer wrote, “Oh my gawwwd,” with Antoni Porowski adding, “I feel awful for laughing I’m sry also happy birthday!!!”
Richie’s husband Joel Madden, who is the lead singer of the band Good Charlotte, even got in on the fun, commenting, “that’s hot,” a reference to the iconic line Richie and Paris Hilton frequently said on their show The Simple Life in the early 2000s. He later took on a more serious note for a birthday message to his wife shared to his own account. In the post, Madden shared a photo of himself and Richie, writing, “Happy Birthday Nicole. You’ve made love feel timeless I’ve forgotten how old we are.”
Richie was also shown plenty of love from her father, Lionel Richie. To mark his daughter’s big day, the singer shared a gallery of throwback images of Richie, including several adorable father-daughter photos, as he wrote, “It’s showtime !! [Nicole Richie] You have been rainbows and butterflies your whole life … but you will always be my little girl, no matter how many birthdays we celebrate!!”
