LA Mayor Bass accuses Spencer Pratt of exploiting the tragedy of the Palisades fire

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is under fire for her response to mayoral candidate and former reality TV star Spencer Pratt, who has been attacking LA leaders for alleged mismanagement during the deadly Palisades fire.

Bass accused Pratt of “exploiting” the tragedy, which he personally experienced, to score political points. However, Pratt backtracked and said that he received community awards for supporting the community of Palisades during the disaster that led to the burning of his home and his family. He said he knows people who burned alive across the street from where he grew up.

“Honestly, before this, I had never heard of Spencer Pratt,” Bass told MeidasTouch as the former anti-Bass reality show’s ads about his misbehavior during the Palisades began trending online. “The thing that worries me and I feel about him is that I feel like he’s taking advantage of the plight of the people of Palisades and I think that’s just insulting. That’s what’s important and I think he’s talking about his celebrity — he’s famous again now.”

The interviewer agreed with Bass throughout the speech, but acknowledged that the fires are “top of mind” for California voters. Still, Bass was praised by an interviewer for his experience working in public office during such a crisis, a tenure Pratt directed.

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“For a longtime politician, I’m surprised by Karen Bass’s callousness to attack a Palisades fire survivor in this way,” Roxanne Hoge, Chairwoman of the LA Republican Party, told Fox News Digital.

“All of Los Angeles is saddened by the loss of our once beautiful and prosperous City under the leadership of Karen Bass and Nithya Raman 4 years ago. Accusing Spencer Pratt – who lives in his burned-out trailer – of ‘exploiting grief’ is a new low,” Elizabeth Barcohana, a political lawyer in Angeles added. “It’s only because of Pratt that we know why Bass was unprepared for the Palisades fire, why Newsom chose to save crops instead of young people living that day, how FireAid money disappeared into NGO coffers instead of going to victims, and what our taxpayer funding that should be used to reduce homelessness is actually being used for.”

“Mayor Bass calling Spencer Pratt’s campaign ‘guilty’ is the kind of tone-deaf political evil that explains exactly why Los Angeles is in trouble. Spencer Pratt lost his home. His parents lost their home. He watched his city burn while his mayor was on a plane to Ghana. That’s not exploitation, that’s not exploitation, whoever might bring this legal challenge, whoever might bring this assurance, “that is, anyone who can deliver this assurance,” former Trump campaign adviser Janiyah Thomas also told Fox News Digital.

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Meanwhile, Bass said during a MeidasTouch interview that his experience leading the city’s response during the deadly Palisades fire, in addition to his experience at the federal level in Congress, is exactly what makes him a better candidate than Pratt, adding that he could use a civics class to understand how government works.

But Bass faced heavy criticism during the fire for his absences, including taking a trip to Ghana as a historic hurricane flooded the area ahead of the fire, not sending the right resources before the fire and making an estimated $17.6 million cut to the city’s fire department before the disaster.

Bass appeared to blame the fires and their destruction on climate change during the interview, while saying his experience in public office during the disaster is why he should be re-elected. Bass said Pratt would benefit from taking a civics class to better understand government.

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“These fires, it was the worst natural disaster we’ve ever faced in our city – the root of it, you know, we have to adapt – like everyone in the nation – to a different experience of weather that we’re not used to because of climate change,” Bass said during an interview about Pratt and his attack on his record. “We don’t know hurricanes — I was born and raised in Los Angeles — hurricane force winds and really no freak rain anywhere but especially Los Angeles.”

Bass’ office referred Fox News Digital to the mayor’s campaign team, but did not provide a response in time for publication.

A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire while burning homes on Pacific Coast Highway during a powerful storm on January 8, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Apu Gomes/Getty Images)

“I’m not sure if Karen Bass has forgotten that she let my house burn down and my parents’ house burn down and I had real neighbors living across the street from my house when I was a kid,” Pratt responded on Fox News’ “The Will Cain Show” when asked about Bass’ criticism of her. “The only sorrow is my sorrow, the sorrow of our country with which I started this war and I stand for it.”

“It’s the craziest, psychotic, diabolical thing I’ve heard in a minute — but it’s not shocking,” Pratt added.

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“How the hell does Spencer Pratt ‘use grief’?” Meghan McCain, daughter of the late John McCain, asked in an email to X about Bass’s response. “He, his wife, children and parents lost their homes and everything in them because of Karen Bass’ fire and her failed policies.”

“Mayor Bass is doing damage control. Bass calling this ‘exploitation’ tells you he wants to make himself heard and silence the real victims of the fire,” Corrin Rankin, Chair of the California Republican Party, told Fox News Digital. “The people of California are tired of unaccountable Democratic politicians and attacking critics. When people lose everything, they have a right to demand answers from the people in power who have failed.”