Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag Spotted Dining Out Amid Death Threats

Spencer Pratt has apparently found his version of a safe haven — and it’s about two hours north of the city he’s trying to run.

Photos obtained by TMZ show Pratt and his wife, Heidi Montag, wrapping up breakfast Monday morning at Corazon Cocina Sur in Carpinteria, California — a small, laid-back seaside city in Santa Barbara County that bills itself as the “World’s Safest Beach.” The couple appeared relaxed and in good spirits, with no security detail in sight. Pratt wore a black Heidiwood t-shirt, shorts, and a hat. Montag kept it equally casual. The restaurant looked mostly empty.

The low-key outing comes as Pratt’s Los Angeles mayoral campaign has become anything but. He’s previously told TMZ that he’s been staying at the ritzy Hotel Bel-Air — not the Airstream trailer prominently featured in his campaign ads — specifically because of death threats, and because the hotel has its own armed security. His campaign dropped a new ad Monday morning, right around the time the Carpinteria photos were taken, leaning directly into that controversy rather than running from it.

If Carpinteria feels like a dry run for something more permanent, that might not be accidental. Pratt told The Adam Carolla Show this weekend that he’s ready to walk away from LA entirely if things don’t go his way: “If Karen Bass gets reelected or Nithya [Raman] gets elected, I will be done with trying to live in LA.”

The Race Is Tighter Than Anyone Expected

For all the noise around the hotel-vs.-trailer story, the actual polling numbers are the real headline. A new Emerson College survey shows incumbent Mayor Karen Bass leading with 30% support — but Pratt is right behind her at 22%, with Councilmember Nithya Raman at 19%. The top two finishers in the June 3 primary advance to a November runoff, which means Pratt is genuinely in contention.

He’s also raised serious money. The latest financial disclosures show Pratt has pulled in more than $538,000 — just edging out Raman’s $530,000, though Bass, who started fundraising for reelection back in 2024, sits on a $2.3 million war chest.

The celebrity backing has been notable. Grammy-winning producer David Foster and his wife Katharine McPhee hosted a fundraiser at their Brentwood home, where McPhee performed a customized version of Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best” for the campaign. Paris Hilton — who, like Pratt, lost her home in the Palisades fire — has also publicly endorsed him. And rumors have been circulating in conservative circles that a Trump endorsement could be coming. When asked about it, Pratt responded in classic form: with a GIF of himself.

Bass, for her part, has raised concerns about the tone of the race, saying Pratt’s messaging has turned “violent” on social media. AI-generated ads — many made by supporters, not the official campaign — depict her as a fictional villain being pelted with blood-red tomatoes. She’s called it a “dangerous trend” that risks provoking unstable individuals.

Chelsea Handler Steps In, and Pratt Fires Back Hard

The campaign got another jolt of drama over the weekend when Chelsea Handler posted a TikTok taking direct aim at Pratt. Glass in hand, she delivered her verdict: “Oh, hi, 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.” The video was captioned “Have we not learned anything?”

Pratt’s response was swift and pointed. He shared a clip from the Netflix Roast of Kevin Hart, hosted by Shane Gillis, in which Gillis roasted Handler over her attendance at a 2010 dinner party hosted by Jeffrey Epstein — by then already a convicted sex offender and registered for trafficking minors. The party was organized by publicist Peggy Siegal. A year later, Epstein received an invitation to Handler’s book launch through Andre Balazs, her then-boyfriend and owner of the Chateau Marmont, who had planned to host the event at his Boom Boom Room venue in New York’s Meatpacking District.

The Chateau Marmont itself got pulled into the orbit of the story this week — an X account for the hotel posted a message of support for Pratt after news broke about his Hotel Bel-Air accommodations.

Heidi’s Two Words That Broke the Internet

While her husband was trading blows with Handler and campaigning through Silver Lake and the San Fernando Valley, Heidi Montag was busy going viral all on her own — with just two words.

On Saturday, Montag posted to X: “Wake up.” That’s it. No context, no explanation. But the post, sent to her more than one million followers, exploded almost immediately — racking up nearly 188,000 views in hours, over 9,500 likes, and hundreds of comments. Fans and observers flooded her replies with interpretations, many reading it as a quiet signal of support for Pratt’s campaign, others just marveling at the chaos a two-word tweet from a former Hills star could still generate in 2026.

It didn’t mention politics. It didn’t have to. In the Pratt-Montag universe, the subtext does the work.

The primary is June 3. Spencer Pratt is eating breakfast in a small beach town two hours from Los Angeles, his campaign dropping ads, his wife breaking the internet with two words, and a polling position that would have seemed absurd six months ago. Whatever happens next, he’s made sure no one is looking away.