Nicole Kidman Copped To An Unwritten Holiday Rule That Forced A Neighborhood Apology

If there's one debate that persists year after year, it's the one surrounding when the holiday season truly begins. Thanks to internet memes, for example, Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" has effectively become an omen for those who feel like fall has already ceded too much ground to those who want to skip right to winter. And it can be a bit hard for some to get into the Thanksgiving spirit when people have already started decorating for Christmas before the Halloween jack-o'-lanterns have even started decomposing. That being said, one person who's unapologetically pro-early Christmas decorating is none other than Hollywood A-lister Nicole Kidman. Well, maybe not entirely unapologetic. Because while Kidman loves her early Christmas lights, she did apparently have to smooth things over with her neighbors about it at one point.

During an appearance on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" in mid-December 2024, Kidman confessed that her own Christmas lights had already been up for about a month and a half at that point. "We put them up at the beginning of November," she said. Notably, it's sort of considered an unwritten rule that Christmas lights shouldn't go up until after Thanksgiving — or, at the very least, until halfway through November. But Kidman's not trying to step on any toes, nor is she anti-Thanksgiving by any means. "No, no, we do a huge Thanksgiving... I just like to have the lights up... And I apologized to all the neighbors," the Oscar winner shared. More than putting them up early, though, Kidman is also in favor of keeping the lights up for as long as possible. "We're negotiating calling them now 'winter lights.' ...I want to start a whole movement," she joked. 

It's obvious that Nicole Kidman's affinity for the holiday season runs deep. In fact, we wouldn't be surprised if she'd been disappointed to not be cast in the Christmas-themed "Batman Returns," and instead settled for its decidedly less festive sequel, "Batman Forever." But, while her enthusiastic holiday decorating was apparently so early in 2024 that it prompted a neighborhood-wide apology, there was seemingly at least some reprieve to be found among her fellow Nashville residents the following year.

In December 2025, Kidman opted to spend the holiday season with her daughters in her native Australia, rather than their family's current home base of Tennessee. "Nicole and the girls are in Australia for Christmas. This is all she wanted after a tumultuous fall," a source told People at the time, referring to Kidman's divorce from Keith Urban. "She just wanted to celebrate Christmas at home. She's very excited," they continued. So, even if Kidman did decorate her Nashville home early again that year, it's unlikely anyone would have given the actor too much of a hard time.

Of course, Kidman's American neighbors might not mind her decorating tendencies all that much as she seems to be a beloved member of the Nashville community. Contrary to rumors that Kidman was eager to move back to Australia full-time following her split from Urban, the actor herself has made it clear she has no intention of leaving Tennessee behind. "We have our life here. I'm part of the city and community for 20 years. It's my home," Kidman told Variety in March 2026.