Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is hitting back at Spencer Pratt after the reality TV star — who has been an outspoken critic of City Hall since losing his home in last year’s devastating Palisades fire — announced that he’s running to take Bass’ job.
A campaign strategist for Bass, Douglas Herman, slammed Pratt’s new mayoral bid in a statement to Entertainment Weekly and insinuated that it’s nothing but a publicity stunt.
“It’s no shock that in advance of his imminent book release, a reality TV ‘villain’ who once staged a fake divorce to boost ratings and spent the last summer spewing post-fire misinformation and disinformation to pump up his social media following, would now announce he’s running for Mayor,” Herman said.
EW has reached out to Pratt for comment.
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Pratt launched his campaign Wednesday at “They Let Us Burn,” an event held in the coastal Los Angeles neighborhood of Pacific Palisades, organized by residents who were impacted by last year’s devastating wildfire and are upset with the mayor’s response to the crisis it has fomented. Pratt and his wife, fellow Hills alum Heidi Montag, lost their home in the Palisades fire, which killed 12 people and destroyed more than 6,000 structures last January.
“This isn’t just a campaign, this is a mission,” Pratt told the crowd. “We’re going to expose the system. We’re going into every dark corner of L.A. politics and disinfecting the city with our light. And when we are done, L.A. is going to be camera-ready again.”
Pratt has emerged as a relentless critic of both Bass and California Governor Gavin Newsom, accusing them of incompetence and negligence in a flurry of videos shared to his social media accounts since the fires. (EW has reached out to Newsom’s office for comment.)
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Montag and Pratt did indeed fake a breakup in 2011, as Bass’ camp alleged. Pratt’s new memoir, The Guy You Love to Hate: Confessions From a Reality TV Villain, will be released Jan. 27 by Gallery Books. His recently launched website for his mayoral campaign refers to him as a “Pacific Palisades resident and Karen Bass’ worst nightmare.”
Los Angeles’ next mayoral election will be held June 2, with a runoff slated for Nov. 3 if no candidate receives a majority of the vote.