McPhee Serenades Spencer Pratt at Star-Studded Fundraiser

Spencer Pratt’s Los Angeles mayoral campaign just got its most Hollywood moment yet. Over the weekend, Grammy-winning producer David Foster and his wife Katharine McPhee opened up their Brentwood Park home for a lavish backyard fundraiser — and McPhee didn’t just show up. She performed.

Footage posted to Instagram by One America News Network anchor Alicia Summers shows Foster, 76, at the keyboard while McPhee, 42, belts out a custom rewrite of Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best” — renamed, effectively, as a campaign anthem. “He is simply the best, better than all the rest, better than Karen Bass and Nithya Raman,” she sang as Pratt, also 42, looked on. “He’s going to fix this broken LA.”

There was one small hiccup. At one point McPhee blanked on Raman’s first name, calling the LA city councilmember “Cynthia” instead of Nithya. When she caught herself and pointed it out, Pratt just shrugged — apparently not entirely sure of the name either.

“You know the tide is turning in California when David Foster and Katharine Foster open their home and write a song for Spencer Pratt,” Summers wrote in her caption. “La La Land is ready for a plot twist.”

A Hollywood Night With Real Political Weight

The guest list carried some serious industry weight. Vanity Fair confirmed that Academy Award-winning producer Brian Grazer — the man behind Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, and The Da Vinci Code — was in attendance, with a photo reposted to Pratt’s Instagram story. Grazer, notably, is no stranger to Hollywood controversy himself: he recently acknowledged there was “blowback” from colleagues after his vote for President Trump became public.

The Foster connection runs deeper than just a favor between neighbors. During an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience in April, Pratt recalled that Foster — who he affectionately calls “the Fos Man” — once gave him a piece of advice that shaped his entire reality TV career: “You got to be like Simon Cowell.” Pratt credits that nudge with helping him lean into his villain role on The Hills. Now, years later, the same man whose daughters Erin and Sara Foster created Netflix’s Nobody Wants This was helping legitimize Pratt’s political ambitions from his own backyard.

Publicly backing a candidate who has been labeled “MAGA” and “Trumpian” by critics still carries reputational risk in Hollywood circles. But the Fosters hosting this fundraiser suggests that stigma may be softening — at least among some corners of the entertainment world.

Growing Momentum and a Crowded Celebrity Corner

The fundraiser is the latest sign that Pratt’s unconventional campaign is drawing real traction. Los Angeles Lakers minority owner Jeanie Buss donated the maximum allowable $1,800 to his campaign. Former View co-host Meghan McCain has endorsed him. So have reality TV veterans Kristin Cavallari, Jax Taylor, Brody Jenner, Audrina Patridge, and Jonathan “FoodGod” Cheban — who went so far as to say he’ll move back to Los Angeles if Pratt wins. “I miss the LA energy, and only Spencer could bring it back,” Cheban said.

Paris Hilton, Jamie Kennedy, DJ Kaskade, podcaster Nick Viall, former Millionaire Matchmaker star Patti Stanger, actor James Woods, and former Hills co-star Doug Reinhardt round out a supporter list that reads like a 2000s pop culture reunion. Entertainment producer Jeff Jenkins and businessman Rick Salomon are also among his donors.

His campaign has leaned hard into viral social media content, podcast appearances, and meme culture — framing Los Angeles as a city in freefall under the current leadership. And it appears to be working, at least in terms of visibility. A recent Emerson College Polling/Inside California Politics survey shows incumbent Mayor Karen Bass leading the field at 30%, with Pratt climbing to 22% and city councilmember Nithya Raman at 19%.

Pratt has also reportedly overtaken Bass in campaign fundraising — a notable benchmark for a candidate many initially dismissed.

The Fire That Started It All

Pratt’s entire candidacy traces back to January 2025, when the Palisades Fire tore through his Pacific Palisades neighborhood, destroying his home along with roughly 6,000 others. He launched his campaign shortly after, centering it on what he calls Bass’s failed wildfire response, along with promises to address homelessness and crack down on crime.

When news broke recently that Pratt, his wife Heidi Montag, and their two sons had moved from a temporary trailer into the Hotel Bel-Air, some critics questioned the optics. Pratt didn’t take that quietly. On X, he fired back: “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.”

Bass and Raman’s campaigns did not respond to requests for comment on Pratt’s growing celebrity support or fundraising momentum.

GOP strategist Mike Madrid sees a tactical angle in all of this for Bass. “I think the chances of Bass making the runoff are considerably higher than they were before the debate,” he said. “She’s been trying to elevate Pratt. That’s the best way that she can survive.” A Pratt-Bass runoff, Madrid argues, benefits both candidates — and cuts Raman out of the picture entirely.

The June 2 primary will determine whether it comes to that. If no candidate wins a majority, the top two advance to the general election on November 3. One thing is clear: Spencer Pratt is no longer just a punchline. And Katharine McPhee just made sure everyone in Brentwood — and beyond — knows it.