Brandi Glanville has become the latest celebrity to share her thoughts on Los Angeles's high-profile mayoral race this week. In the latest episode of her podcast, Brandi Glanville Unfiltered, the 53-year-old reality star weighed in on Spencer Pratt's surging campaign against incumbent LA Mayor Karen Bass and her challenger from the left, LA City Councilmember Nithya Raman.
Although Glanville made it clear that she would not normally support a Republican like Pratt – whom Donald Trump is allegedly considering endorsing – she suggested that he still had a shot of winning the election. She weighed in on Pratt's campaign shortly after he shot back at Chelsea Handler's criticism of him by reminding his fans that the comedian had attended a dinner party at convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's home years ago.
The former Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills star got on the topic of Pratt's chances after her cohost James Maas asked her about his campaign ads, which he said were like 'mini movies.' 'I'm not mad about it, though,' Glanville replied. 'Even though he's a Republican.'
'Let's not get into it,' she said quietly, before adding, 'I feel like he could win. I think he's going to win.' Glanville went on to cite other Republican entertainers who had been voted into office in the past. 'We put Arnold [Schwarzenegger] in there. We put, you know, Ronald Reagan as president,' she continued, though Schwarzenegger and Reagan both won gubernatorial elections in California, rather than running for mayor of LA like Pratt.
Glanville also noted that former Apprentice contestant Omarosa Manigault Newman had worked in the White House. Manigault Newman, who was labeled a villain by fans when she competed on the first season of Trump's reality series, was named an assistant to the President and a communications aide for the Office of Public Liaison at the start of Trump's first administration, but she was fired in December 2017 by White House Chief of Staff John Kelly. In 2022, a judge fined her more than $60,000 for failing to fill out financial disclosures during her time working for the federal government.
'Like, what the f***. Donald Trump is president,' Glanville continued. 'We love reality stars to be our politicians,' she said, before quickly wondering, 'But do we?' Glanville clarified that she was not a fan of incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, whom Pratt has bashed for her handling of the LA Fires and for failing to significantly decrease encampments of homeless people. 'But they are, so I think [Pratt] has a good chance,' Glanville opined, before clarifying, 'I don't know that I'm voting for him.'
Maas replied that he was nervous, seemingly about the possibility of Pratt being elected, and Glanville noted that she does not 'love Karen Bass either.' However, the reality star said they had learned not to talk about politics on the podcast, but she concluded with some words of encouragement. 'Go Spence,' Glanville said quickly before moving on. Her discussion about the mayoral race in LA did not include any mention of LA City Councilmember Nithya Raman, who has challenged Bass from the left on affordability issues with a campaign inspired by the success of Zohran Mamdani's mayoral win in New York City.
Glanville's measured praise for Pratt came as Chelsea Handler blasted his political ambitions in a profanity-laced video that compared him to Donald Trump. Handler, 51, warned her followers that the 42-year-old Hills alumnus is a 'former reality star' and should not be considered as a candidate in the Los Angeles mayoral campaign. 'If you're seeing this video, this is a reminder that a straight, white male former reality star that has no previous experience in government should not be a legitimate political candidate,' she said in a clip shared to her Instagram on Friday. 'Have we learned anything yet? The bar is on the f*****g floor, people, and I need you to jump over it.' During the video, Handler was seen pouring herself a drink of her canned Vodka Lemonade, which she launched in partnership with the beverage brand Owl's Brew.
Pratt, who has been gaining momentum in the race, quickly hit back at the clip, sharing a video of comedian Shane Gillis roasting Handler by reminding fans that she attended a dinner at convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's home. 'Most of you have probably never heard of Chelsea Handler, so here's an introduction!' he wrote in a caption of the clip, which he posted on X. Gillis and Handler traded barbs during Netflix's The Roast of Kevin Hart on Sunday. 'Speaking of tossing tiny shrimp into a child's mouth, Chelsea Handler went to dinner at Jeffrey Epstein's house in 2010,' he said, to groans from the live audience in Los Angeles. Gillis had been homing in on Handler's admission in 2021 that she attended a dinner party at the disgraced financier's Manhattan townhouse an unknown number of years ago. 'Look it up, there's articles. It wasn't like a big party, there were like seven people there. It was like Prince Andrew and Woody Allen were there,' Gillis continued.
Handler previously said that the dinner party was the only time she ever saw Epstein, who reportedly died by suicide in jail in 2019, while awaiting trial on child sex-trafficking charges. Also in attendance were talk show host Charlie Rose, Katie Couric, and Allen's third wife, Soon-Yi Previn, Handler previously told actor Rob Lowe on his podcast. 'I've never been on the private island and I've never been on his plane. I've met him one time and that was the time,' she told Lowe.
A number of Handler's famous pals agreed with her in the comments of her video, with actress Busy Philipps writing, 'i love you thank you good lord.' Marisa Tomei left a number of applause emojis, while actor Henry Winkler commented with fire emojis. However, others sided with Pratt, with one commentator asking Handler: 'Do you actually live here, have you driven around LA lately? Do you think we need another Democratic candidate to run our beautiful city? I'm a huge fan Chelsea but come on. They burned our town down man.' Another wrote, 'Nothing more tone-deaf than a celebrity living behind gates and armed security telling ordinary people how to vote while families dodge naked addicts on the way to school. Your reality isn't ours.'
Pratt's feud with Handler goes back to the late 2000s when she relentlessly tore into him and his wife Heidi Montag on her show Chelsea Lately. It comes after Pratt tried to shut down allegations that his bid for Los Angeles mayor is being filmed for a reality TV show. The former MTV star is currently running against rivals Mayor Karen Bass, Councilwoman Nithya Raman, and progressive Christian minister Rae Huang. TMZ and Deadline claimed that The Hills alum had signed up for an unscripted series to document his campaign for mayor. Pratt announced he was running for the position in January, one year after his Pacific Palisades home burned down in the deadly Los Angeles wildfires.
However, a spokesperson for Pratt denied the allegations in a statement to The Wrap on Thursday. 'This is inaccurate. There is no series in production and cameras have not been following the campaign.' The spokesperson further stated that Pratt has not signed any contract to film a reality show that follows his run for LA mayor. 'He does not have any signed contract. No contract exists related to this because it isn't true.' Pratt also responded to a report that he has been living in a Bel-Air hotel amid his campaign after previously claiming he had been residing inside a trailer after his home burned down last year. Pratt offered his response on X by penning, 'Hey guys, why don't they wanna talk about why I need a hotel in the first place? Karen Bass let my home burn down. Also 6,000 of my neighbors. NBD.' The former reality star also told TMZ that he has been living at the hotel for safety reasons after receiving death threats amid his bid for mayor.
Earlier this month, Pratt took part in a debate alongside Bass and Raman which resulted in his chances of winning surging afterwards. And he has also received support from his close friends and other celebrities, including reality star Kristin Cavallari, music producer David Foster, comedian Heather McDonald, and Paris Hilton.
