Actor Kelsey Grammer threw his support behind reality TV star Spencer Pratt for Los Angeles mayor on Friday and aired a pointed nickname for incumbent Karen Bass days before the city’s June 2 primary.
The “Cheers” and “Frasier” star delivered the line while leaving a campaign event in Westlake Village, telling the New York Post (NYP), “I just call her Karen Bass-ackwards. That’s what we’ve always called her in my house.” He praised Pratt as the only serious choice in the race, adding, “He’s the only guy that’s a real option. We know what the rest is going to do.”
The endorsement lands as Pratt polls at 22% heading into Tuesday’s nonpartisan primary, trailing Bass at 26% and Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman at 25% in a UC Berkeley-Los Angeles Times survey reported by CNBC. (RELATED: Karen Bass Ducks Out Of Mayoral Forum After Failing To Escape Blame For Mangling LA Wildfire Response)
Pratt entered the race after losing his Pacific Palisades home in last January’s wildfires and has built his platform around homelessness, crime, fire preparedness and business costs in Los Angeles, CNBC reported. “I only got into the race because nobody else was going to run. I had to step up for my community and for Los Angeles,” Pratt told the network.
Kelsey Grammer reveals his nasty nickname for Karen Bass as he backs Spencer Pratt for LA mayor https://t.co/nwZq4OpAGc pic.twitter.com/ZBKlyEKESX
— New York Post (@nypost) May 30, 2026
When asked about California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Grammer told the NYP, “I just hope we’ve heard the last of him.”
The actor hosted Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at an Italian restaurant near the Ventura County border, where the cabinet member promoted the administration’s Trump Accounts program, KCLU reported. The initiative deposits $1,000 in federal seed money into stock-market-linked investment accounts for children born during Trump’s second term. Grammer, 71, told the public radio station he has already enrolled his 8-month-old son.
Bessent criticized California’s leadership in his remarks. “California is a great state – it’s just horribly run,” he told the Westlake Village crowd, according to the NYP. Grammer praised Bessent as a “rockstar” and told attendees “stupid lives in California.”