At last week’s mayoral debate in Los Angeles, there were three competing visions of the city on offer. There’s Mayor Karen Bass’s Democratic theory of government, according to which things are pretty good. There’s City Councilmember Nithya Raman’s uber-progressivism, according to which the city is facing an affordability crisis that demands more “planning” and fewer cops. And then there’s former reality television star Spencer Pratt, and his rage against the machine.
Pratt, 42, grew up in the Pacific Palisades, which, once upon a time, was idyllic: beautiful Spanish revival and midcentury modern homes overlooking the ocean, pools and tennis courts, a very quaint “village” full of pricey boutiques. His father was a dentist; his mother didn’t work. He went to Crossroads, which was known as the hippy-dippy school for the children of famous actors and directors. (Jonah Hill was in his class.)
Pratt wanted, more than anything, to be rich, and he aspired to go to Wharton, but he lacked the grades. Instead, he forced his way into reality television—ultimately becoming the bad guy on the show The Hills, where he and his now-wife, Heidi Montag, were known as “Speidi.” After the show ended, in 2010, they launched an online business, Pratt Daddy Crystals, which sells crystals and jewelry, and he developed a thing for hummingbirds. Everything, according to Pratt, was perfect, until the horrific fire of January 2025, when their home and his parents’ home, both in the Palisades, were destroyed.
