Socialist Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman is leveraging deep ties to the entertainment industry in an aggressive bid to oust incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, drawing a wave of high-profile Hollywood donors who appear eager to push the city further left.
According to Breitbart, a recent profile in Variety underscored how Ramans access to Hollywood money is closely linked to her husband, television writer-producer Vali Chandrasekaran of 30 Rock and Modern Family fame. The report detailed a donor roster that reads like a progressive writers room, including Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling, Mike Schur, Colin Jost, Nicholas Stoller, Cord Jefferson, David Mandel, and others, with actor Adam Scott of Severance introducing Raman at an April backyard fundraiser in Santa Monica.
She wins because she gets shit done, and she gets shit done because she has a plan for everything, Scott declared, offering the kind of celebrity testimonial that has long helped cement left-wing dominance in Hollywood politics. For many Angelenos already frustrated with rising crime, homelessness, and regulatory overreach, the spectacle of wealthy entertainers rallying behind a self-described socialist will likely raise fresh concerns about the citys ideological direction.
Conspicuously missing from this latest round of political theater is DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg, once one of the most powerful Democratic rainmakers in California. Variety noted that Katzenberg spent $2 million to help Bass defeat mall billionaire Rick Caruso in 2022 and then invested $300,000 in LA4LA, an affordable housing effort in partnership with Basss office.
After leading President Bidens fundraising outreach to Hollywood during the 2024 reelection bid which did not end well Katzenberg has withdrawn from the political scene and has not been involved in Bass reelection effort, the outlet reported, signaling a notable retreat by one of the partys biggest financiers. A spokesperson for Katzenberg said the media mogul is taking some time away from politics, a striking admission given his long record of underwriting Democrat causes.
While Raman consolidates the entertainment industrys progressive bloc, reality TV personality Spencer Pratt has quietly attracted his own, more eclectic mix of Hollywood backers. His contributors include Katharine McPhee, David Foster, Haim Saban, Justine Bateman, and Jenny McCarthy, along with television producers Craig Plestis (The Masked Singer), Jeff Jenkins (The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives) and Sandra Lee (Dr. Pimple Popper).
But its Raman who has taken the lions share of Hollywood endorsements, with her donor list resembling a social committee for the Writers Guild of America, Variety added, underscoring how firmly the creative class remains aligned with the citys most left-wing candidates. On Thursday, supporters will hold a fundraiser at Dynasty Typewriter, the Westlake comedy club, where a cast including Lake Bell, Will Forte, Adam DeVine, Bobby Moynihan, Chelsea Peretti and Paul Scheer will perform a live table read of Harley Quinn: A Very Problematic Valentines Day Special.'
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