The now-viral, AI-generated video opens with the iconic Hollywood sign on fire and features Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass wearing makeup to look like the Joker. California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris feast with elites while a Batman-like figure moves through city streets fighting armed agents.
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The video, which now has over 5 million views on X alone, is just one of many produced to boost Republican Spencer Pratt’s candidacy in the Los Angeles mayoral race, where the former “The Hills” cast member has become the latest reality-TV star seeking to use his fame to propel him in politics.
Republicans are cheering him on, pointing to the videos that they say are building enthusiasm on the ground in a city where their party doesn’t often gain traction in local or statewide elections.
Pratt even appears to have caught the attention of President Donald Trump, who recently told reporters, “I’d like to see him do well. He’s a character.”
Some Democrats, meanwhile, are dismissing Pratt’s internet virality, saying that the majority of users cheering for him online don’t live in Los Angeles and won’t have a say in the upcoming mayoral primary.
What they can’t dismiss, though, is that Bass is in political trouble, facing challenges from the left and right in the upcoming all-party primary for mayor. And in recent polls, Pratt has gained ground, increasing the likelihood that he and Bass, a Democrat who is running for a second term, could advance from the June 2 primary to a head-to-head election in November.
Pratt’s fame — or infamy, according to viewers of “The Hills” — peaked in the mid-2000s during his tenure on the unscripted MTV show alongside his wife, Heidi Montag. But last year, after Pratt and Montag’s Pacific Palisades home burned down in the Los Angeles fires along with thousands of others, the former reality-TV villain surged in popularity online, urging social media followers to stream Montag’s 2010 album “Superficial” to help the couple raise money to rebuild their lives.
Fueled by ordinary online followers and celebrities like Bad Bunny listening to Montag’s music, her album shot up the charts. Meanwhile, Pratt quickly became the face of opposition to Bass and Newsom, whom he blamed for not doing enough to prevent or combat the fires.
In January, Pratt formally launched his campaign for mayor, telling voters: “This just isn’t a campaign — this is a mission, and we are going to expose the system. We are going into every dark corner of L.A. politics and disinfecting the city with our light.”
Pratt’s campaign has denied that it is behind the AI-generated Batman and Joker video, but the reality star has continued to make the wildfires and Bass’ leadership the center of his campaign, gaining support through his own viral videos, including one he posted on Instagram last week in which he raps a parody of the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” theme song.
“In west Los Angeles, Palisades, in the backyard is where I spent most of my days … when a couple politicians who were up to no good started making trouble in my neighborhood,” Pratt rapped in the video, going on to call himself the “Prince of Bel-Air.” He was mocking criticism after TMZ reported earlier this month that Pratt and Montag were living in the Hotel Bel-Air, rather than the Airstream trailer he claimed to be living in in earlier campaign videos.
Pratt’s campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story, but other Los Angeles Republicans said that Pratt’s direct-to-camera communication with voters and his viral videos are one reason why he’s gained so much steam in the race in recent months.
“To see, not only online, but to see people in real life getting super excited about this is very unusual,” Los Angeles Republican Party Chair Roxanne Hoge told NBC News, saying that voters “often don’t know who’s running for mayor, or even who the mayor is.”
“I always caution people that, you know, likes and clicks and followers are not votes, but there is a vibe shift,” Hoge said. “There is momentum.”
Hoge added that Democrats have been dominant in Los Angeles politics for a long time, and Pratt is the first candidate to make a serious challenge to the “status quo” in years.
“Here’s why people in L.A. are actually excited: because he is actually diagnosing the problem. He is saying out loud, ‘The emperor has no clothes, and I can see, I can see that. Can you all see it?’ And then he is prescribing solutions for that problem,” she said.
A Los Angeles Times poll released last week showed 30% of voters backing Bass, 22% of voters backing Pratt and 20% of voters backing City Council member Nithya Raman, a former Bass ally and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. Sixteen percent of voters were still undecided in the survey.
If no candidate in the June 2 primary gets 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters will advance to a Nov. 3 runoff.
While support for Pratt has grown in recent weeks, he and Raman are still battling for second place in the ongoing primary, with mail voting already underway. Both campaigns are seeking to capitalize on displeasure with Bass, who has faced widespread criticism for her handling of the Palisades fires last year.
Over half of Los Angeles voters — 56% — had an unfavorable view of the mayor in a March Los Angeles Times poll.
“The majority of voters disapprove of the job Mayor Bass has done. The question is do they want a progressive alternative or a MAGA Republican alternative,” a source familiar with Raman’s campaign told NBC News about the differences between Raman and Pratt.
Raman formally launched her campaign in March, seeking to capitalize on that dynamic as a Bass alternative from the left. But a lukewarm debate performance in May, compared to a fiery appearance from Pratt, stemmed her momentum and fueled his.
A spokesperson for Bass’ campaign acknowledged the recent attention on the race due to Pratt’s online videos, but said the campaign felt strongly that she would come in first in the primary.
“We have to take every competitor seriously,” the person said, adding that Bass’ supporters remember the shock of Trump’s 2016 presidential win. “Anything can happen.”
