On the bustling Hollywood Walk of Fame, a man lies slumped over, while tourists carefully navigate around him. Over on Venice Beach, a disheveled individual dozes off, and a naked woman incoherently wanders near the 110 Freeway, visible to passing commuters. These scenes paint a stark picture of Los Angeles.
Four years ago, Karen Bass was elected as mayor with a clear mission: to tackle the homelessness and addiction crisis that has intensified in California’s largest city, particularly since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. While Bass has claimed that her Inside Safe program, alongside a $1 billion-a-year homelessness budget, has resulted in a 17 percent reduction in homelessness, many residents and exclusive photos from the Daily Mail suggest otherwise.
One of the most vocal critics is Spencer Pratt, a former reality TV star turned political contender. Pratt is challenging Bass and Democratic Socialist opponent Nithya Raman for the position of mayor, with the prize being the residence at Getty House, the official home of the city’s leader.
Currently, Bass leads the polls with 30 percent support. However, Pratt is not far behind, garnering 22 percent, while Raman holds 19 percent. Despite being new to politics and a registered Republican, Pratt, who is running as an independent, has gained significant traction in this predominantly Democratic city. His rise can be attributed to viral campaign videos and a standout debate performance, where he was declared the winner by 90 percent of viewers who participated in a post-debate poll.
Currently occupied by Bass who sits on top of the polls with 30 percent support, she is trailed by Pratt with 22 percent and Raman with 19 percent.
Despite being a political neophyte and a registered Republican, Pratt, 42, who is running as an independent, has surged in the heavily blue city in recent weeks boosted by viral campaign videos and a debate performance so impressive he was declared the winner with 90 percent in a subsequent poll of those who tuned in.
Much of his momentum has been driven by pointing out LA’s biggest problems in blunt terms: The botched handling of the 2025 wildfires that claimed his own Pacific Palisades home, the thousands of drug addicted homeless that have turned even the nicest parts of LA into dystopian dumps and low morale at the LAPD and the LAFD, both of which have seen hundreds of officers leave.
In one of the most viral moments in last week’s debate, Pratt dismissed Raman, 44, as ‘a random councilor who’s been failing for six years’ and ridiculed her idea of solving homelessness using outreach workers offering treatment.
In a shocking daytime scene, a visibly distressed naked woman wanders near the Harbor Freeway gesturing wildly at passing traffic. Mayor BassWhile Bass has insisted her Inside Safe program and homelessness budget has produced a 17 per cent reduction but Spencer Pratt disagrees
The woman appeared to be shouting and gesturing at unseen figures while roaming the streets
A homeless man lies slumped over on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as tourists awkwardly step around him in one of LA’s busiest visitor hotspots
‘I will go below the Harbor Freeway tomorrow with her and we can find some of these people she’s gonna offer treatment for,’ he said.
‘She’s gonna get stabbed in the neck. These people do not want a bed. They want fentanyl or super meth.’
When the Daily Mail took a look under the Harbor Freeway – also known as the 110 – on Tuesday, what Pratt told Raman proved to be true.
Every single underpass had scruffy homeless encampments tucked underneath, in many cases with addicts slouching around and openly smoking drugs.
At one, a clearly mentally ill woman had stripped naked and was wandering down the street gesturing and arguing with herself.
When a California Highway Patrol car drove past her, officers merely told her to ‘put some clothes on’ through the megaphone before driving off and leaving her there.
The same goes for LA’s infamous MacArthur Park which sits in the tony Wilshire Corridor and has long been plagued by drug addicts.
Pratt made the park the center of his most recent campaign video, released on Tuesday, which featured angry residents speaking of their horror at the open-air drug market that has established itself in the park.
Former Hills villain turned political insurgent Spencer Pratt is battling incumbent Karen Bass and Democratic Socialist challenger Nithya Raman for the chance to move into Getty House, the official residence of the mayor of LA
Makeshift homeless encampments line multiple underpasses beneath the 110 Freeway despite repeated city cleanup efforts
A homeless addict crouches on the street beside an overflowing shopping cart stuffed with belongings
A transient appears to sleep face-down on the sidewalk near downtown Los Angeles
The city is planning a $40 million upgrade of the park and, last week, sent a force of LAPD officers and DEA agents in to clear the space out.
Despite the raid, less than a week later, ‘the drug-addicted zombies’ in Pratt’s parlance are back – openly smoking fentanyl in front of families trying to enjoy the swings.
On Tuesday, crowds of addicts could be seen visibly smoking drugs at the park entrances, others were passed out on the street and still more lounged half naked on the grass accompanied by their dogs.
The dogs are another issue Pratt is campaigning on – pointing out the cruelty meted out to the animals and publishing images of brutalized and disemboweled canines too graphic to reproduce on his Instagram page.
Needless to say, no encampments are present in the tony part of Central LA where Bass lives in Getty House, nor in the leafy Silver Lake neighborhood where socialist Raman lives in a stunning $2 million mansion.
This too was pointed out by Pratt in a campaign video called ‘They Not Like Us’ two weeks ago which contrasted his own burned-out lot with the Democrat politicians’ palatial homes and went viral.
The tag line: ‘They don’t have to live in the mess they created where you live’.
Raman in particular is vulnerable on the issue, having dismissed parents’ concerns about encampments being near schools during her 2024 LA Council run – telling a debate in front of a homeowner’s association: ‘I don’t think a kid’s gonna be safer if they are 10 feet or 500 feet away from a school.’
People can be seen passed out or camping in all the major tourist areas from Hollywood to Venice beach
Trash, mattresses, broken furniture, and abandoned belongings litter sidewalks near encampments
Encampments continue to dominate parts of Los Angeles despite Mayor Karen Bass insisting her homelessness strategy is producing results
MacArthur Park has become a flashpoint in the LA mayoral race as politicians battle over how to handle the crisis
The naked woman wandered through the street near the Harbor Freeway in broad daylight as passing drivers looked on in shock
The response resulted in loud booing.
Other interventions have included opposition to any expansion of LA’s anti-camping laws and a notorious 2023 comment on catalytic converter thefts which she blamed on Toyota for making them too easy to steal rather than on the criminals themselves.
Meanwhile, Bass has been heavily criticized for her handling of the 2025 wildfires and was in Ghana when they broke out, despite repeated warnings.
And the incumbent mayor is also vulnerable on homelessness, with 40 per cent of the people reached by her Inside Safe program returning to the streets, while she has also been accused of wasting millions of taxpayer dollars on expensive initiatives that haven’t worked.
As a result, Pratt’s ‘Zombieland’ message accompanied by the slogan ‘Had enough of the chaos? Ready to feel safe?’ emblazoned on billboards across the city is resonating.
For Bass, part of the problem is that even some of LA’s most famous neighborhoods are still afflicted by chaos caused by homeless addicts.
Although Beverly Hills and Santa Monica are separate cities that have no stake in the LA mayoral election, equally high profile nearby neighborhoods Venice Beach and Marina Del Rey do – and both have suffered from encampments.
Both were early targets of Bass’s Inside Safe campaign which did clear out some of the bigger encampments but in recent months, the problem has come back.
The taxpayer funded home of Karen Bass. For Bass, part of the problem is that even some of LA’s most famous neighborhoods are still afflicted by chaos caused by homeless addicts
Wrapped in a blanket and carrying his belongings, a homeless man walks beneath a graffiti-covered freeway underpass in downtown LA
Drug users openly gathered near the entrances to MacArthur Park just days after city officials announced a major crackdown
The disturbing Daily Mail photos reveal the stark contrast between LA’s world-famous attractions and the growing homelessness engulfing the city streets
Marina del Rey – which is home to Ice Cube among other celebrities – has had problems with addicts tapping into businesses’ power and setting up makeshift sitting rooms complete with TVs and sofas in the street.
And on LA’s famous Venice Beach on Tuesday, homeless residents could be seen snoozing on the sand and taking a shower using open air public facilities.
It’s not just Hollywood that has suffered homeless hell under Bass.
