I can remember during the race for L.A.'s mayorship, I would read some very bizarre headlines and posts on X. You would get celebrities saying that they agreed with Spencer Pratt, but still encouraging people not to vote for him.
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Jimmy Kimmel was the loudest example who thought Pratt was right but still needed to take a hike. The monologue itself was jaw-dropping because it shows you that leftists are, in fact, very aware of how bad things are, but they cannot bring themselves to vote for someone who doesn't have a "D" next to their name.
Kimmel's words best represented a lot of people's takes:
“Let’s be honest, this city is a mess,” Kimmel said. “That became obvious during the [Pacific Palisades] fires. But the people running this city, when you say, ‘This city is a mess,’ they go, ‘No, actually, it isn’t and we’re doing a lot.’ And we look around and go, ‘I’m not seeing it.’ Then they go, ‘Oh, it’s there, things are looking up.’ And this makes people who live here upset, especially people whose homes and neighborhoods burned down, who are trying to run businesses with people who need help sleeping in front of the door of their restaurant because they have nowhere else to go. They’re frustrated because nothing seems to change.”
But then he just tosses logic out the window and encourages everyone else to do the same:
"It’s hard not to agree with what he has to say. He’s angry about the same problems a lot of people here are angry about. Does he have solutions to those problems? No.”
But Pratt absolutely did have a solution for a lot of the problems L.A. was suffering from, including the fact that it was losing money hand over fist thanks to regulations and union corruption driving out production crews. He was going to eliminate location and filming fees, remove the need for city services to constantly be in attendance for productions unless needed, streamline permits for shoots, and reduce regulations to encourage major Hollywood studios to choose L.A. as their filming location.
He was going to nurse the golden goose back to health and bring money back to the city.
Instead, people like Kimmel and the access media consistently pelted Pratt with accusations and comparisons to Trump. Karen Bass secured the top spot in the primary, making her reelection come November highly likely. The same woman who did this when asked about her total lack of leadership and bad policy decisions during the L.A. wildfires:
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass freezes up when a reporter put her on blast for her policies that include cutting the fire department budget by 17.5 Million, all the while California continues to burn 👀😔pic.twitter.com/6fGDSAxPa4
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) January 9, 2025
And now the chickens are coming home to roost, and the production crews are leaving it in what Variety is calling a "mass exodus." The same Variety that attacked Pratt and accused him of being an L.A. version of Trump, which is what everyone else who attacked him did:
Los Angeles has been the world’s entertainment capital for 100 years and still has an unmatched concentration of talent and infrastructure. But in an age of globalization, with easy international travel and communication, the city is losing its edge.
Everything costs more in L.A., starting with labor, due to the high cost of living and elaborate union agreements. Other states and countries have developed crew bases of their own, are more solicitous of producers’ needs and offer more generous incentives. Producers are also under pressure from the audience to deliver ever more spectacular experiences. Creating a premium product — at a price — often means going overseas.
If only they didn't attack the one person who had a great plan. One that actually made L.A. a cheap place to film, that utilized its existing infrastructure, and actually put plans into motion to help the people of the Palisades whose houses burned down, so that production crews, producers, actors, etc., can live close by.
I can't imagine a better example of how the left's own prejudices get in the way of their common sense.
Pratt was the best man for the job. He had the drive and the plan.
But he had an R next to his name, and you have to vote blue no matter who. Even if it means watching as your city descends into a disgusting mess of homelessness, corruption, and joblessness, it's far more important to say that you didn't vote for a Republican.
