Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass accused reelection challenger Spencer Pratt of exploiting Palisades wildfire grief in a podcast interview, calling his tactics 'reprehensible' amid rising campaign tensions. This follows Pratt's January candidacy launch and April viral ad criticizing her leadership during the blaze that destroyed his home.
In a recent interview with podcast host Katie Phang, Mayor Karen Bass criticized Spencer Pratt—whose January 2026 candidacy announcement marked the Palisades Fire's one-year anniversary—stating, “Well, honestly, before this, I had never heard of Spencer Pratt. But the thing I am concerned about is that I feel like he’s exploiting the grief of people in the Palisades. And I think that’s reprehensible.” She added, “I think he’s about his own celebrity; he’s famous now again,” and suggested he could benefit from “a basic civics course.”
Bass is seeking re-election in the nonpartisan June 2026 mayoral primary, where Pratt is a first-time Republican candidate among over a dozen contenders. Prediction markets currently favor City Council member Nithya Raman.
Pratt, a former 'The Hills' reality TV star who lost his home in the January 2025 wind-driven fires that ravaged Altadena and Pacific Palisades—burning 50,000 acres, destroying nearly 16,000 homes, and causing at least 31 direct deaths (plus an estimated 409 excess deaths from smoke and disruptions)—posted a viral campaign video on April 29, 2026. In it, he contrasted the mansions of Bass and Raman with homeless encampments and his burned-down property, declaring, “They let my home burn down. I know what the consequences of failed leadership are. That’s why I’m running for mayor. For my sons, and the rest of us Angelenos that want to stop these corrupt politicians from destroying our city.”
Bass faced backlash for being in Africa on Biden Administration business during the fires; upon returning, a Sky News reporter confronted her at LAX on January 8, 2025, questioning her absence and fire department budget cuts, to which she offered no response.
