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Spencer Pratt explained why his controversial stay at the Hotel Bel-Air was actually the cheaper option as he faced death threats while running for mayor of Los Angeles.
The 43-year-old reality star faced scrutiny in May after TMZ reported he had been staying at the luxury hotel despite appearing to suggest in a campaign ad that he was living in an Airstream trailer on the site of his California home, which was destroyed in the devastating Pacific Palisades fire.
At the time, the outlet reported that Pratt had been staying at the Hotel Bel-Air for more than a month, though “The Hills” alum disputed that characterization, saying he had spent no more than six days there during the previous month.
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In a lengthy X post he shared Tuesday, Pratt, who lost in the June primary election, defended his choice to stay at the pricey hotel during the race.
“Why is he spending $1,200 a night? Why couldn’t he stay somewhere for $300 a night? Well, the answer to that question is not as pretty as any of us may like to hear,” Pratt wrote.
Spencer Pratt defended his controversial $1,200 a night hotel stay as the cheapest option. (Getty Images)
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“Most people simply presumed that I was being a bougie spoiled brat, and that I was abusing campaign funds,” he continued. “They expected me to stay at a cheaper hotel, but what they don’t realize is … the Hotel Bel Air was the cheapest hotel in all of LA.
“At the time, I couldn’t explain the math to people, and my campaign staff told me I wasn’t allowed to divulge the real reason I had to stay there, but now that the election is coming to a close, I don’t need to listen to anyone anymore.”
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Pratt had previously told TMZ in May that the Airstream had become unsafe, saying that the Bel Air Hotel’s “armed security” made it “the only option.” He claimed that supporters of his opponents, Mayor Karen Bass and City Councilmember Nithya Raman were “getting increasingly desperate and hostile” due to his performance at the May debate and strong polling numbers.
Pratt said the hotel “fortress” was less costly than round-the-clock security. (Highfive/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
“I can’t talk about specific threats, but that lot is … unsafe now,” he said at the time.
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In his X post, Pratt, who ran as a Republican, elaborated on the threats that he received, which he attributed to political violence.
“Throughout the campaign, I endured numerous death threats, to the point where I had to hire full-time security,” he wrote. “Anyone who’s had to hire security knows that they will always tell you to not discuss your death threats; they find that it often has the opposite effect you would expect; normal people should hear it and think ‘whoa, we need to dial back the temperature, this isn’t acceptable’, but the reality is that commie street animals get inspired, and you will end up getting copycats if you advertise your threats.”
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Pratt went on to detail specific incidents he said led him to fear for his safety and that of his family.
“People were breaking into my lot in the Palisades and leaving notes on the airstream with white powder in them,” he wrote.
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The TV personality also claimed that a “lunatic” who was “hellbent on tracking me down” charged at his young son while he was boogie-boarding in the ocean. Pratt shares sons Gunner, 8, and Ryker, 3, with his wife and former “The Hills” co-star Heidi Montag, 40.
“So, I had to hire a second security detail for my family while I was away campaigning,” he wrote. “I don’t know if you’ve ever had to hire 4-5 armed security professionals with blacked out SUVs, but…it’s not cheap. One of the first things they told me was that my lot in the Palisades was a security nightmare; perched mid-slope on a hill, totally exposed in a bowl, surrounded by elevated positions where a shooter could easily traipse through the wilderness of the State Park, and have a clear line of sight to every inch of my property.
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“I wasn’t allowed to stay on that property, even if I wanted to,” he added. “Enter the Hotel Bel Air.”
Pratt explained that the famed LA hotel, which has hosted celebrities, presidents and royalty, is an unusually secure property due to its design.
“The Hills” alum faced backlash when it was revealed he was not living in the Airstream trailer on his Pacific Palisades lot. (HighFive/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
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“While $1,200 a night isn’t very unique for a decent hotel in a major city, there’s something else about the hotel that is unique,” Pratt wrote.
“Unlike my turkey shoot of a lot in the Palisades, the Hotel Bel Air is surrounded with a fortress wall, with a single point of ingress, a fatal funnel that takes you over a moat, just to enter the property. You then must navigate a labyrinth of walled off bungalows, and it is very easy to get lost. Unlike normal hotels, it is a very secure facility.
“When my security team dropped me off behind the walls of the Bel Air, they felt good about leaving me alone in the secure facility,” he continued.
“Had I stayed anywhere else, I would have needed to book out 3 rooms for my team to maintain overnight security, which would’ve cost an additional $3,000 per night. Paradoxically, by this calculation, I was actually saving a ton of money by staying at the secure Bel Air; even staying at a Motel 6 would’ve cost me more money, and in a campaign…money is everything.”
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Pratt argued that Republicans face a “permanent fundraising disadvantage” due to safety expenses. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Pratt claimed that threats of political violence disproportionately affect Republican candidates, arguing that the cost of protecting himself forced his campaign to spend money on security that his Democratic rivals could devote elsewhere. The reality star recalled that Raman appeared at a debate preparation event without visible security while he was accompanied by several armed officers.
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“We have an epidemic of left wing violence that puts republicans at a permanent fundraising disadvantage,” he wrote. “I knew that I needed armed security, and even though it severely crippled our campaign by siphoning off an insane amount of our fundraising dollars, we had to do it, because we knew that nobody else was going to protect us.”
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Pratt said that while his campaign has ended, the security concerns that prompted him to hire armed protection have continued.
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“Now that there’s no campaign, I can’t afford that level of protection, even though I still deal with death threats and trespassers at my property, routinely,” he wrote.
