Spencer Pratt References Karen Bass's 1970s Cuba Visits in Response to Reality TV Question

By Mark Tanos

*March 28, 2026*

Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, known for his role as a villainous character on MTV's "The Hills" from 2006 to 2010, responded to a question about his reality television background by referencing incumbent Mayor Karen Bass's trips to Cuba in the 1970s.

During a FOX 11 interview, a reporter asked Pratt whether his fame from "The Hills" would hinder or help his long-shot campaign against Bass. Pratt, polling at 14% in a recent Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies survey, dismissed the question's focus. "The reality, pun intended, is that was from 20 years ago," Pratt said in the interview, according to a video posted on X. He then turned to Bass: "And if we look at what Karen Bass was doing 20 years ago, she was in Cuba learning how to make bombs with the people that would then go bomb Capitol Hill."

Pratt contrasted his past with Bass's activities. "I’m pretty proud of what I was doing at 20 on reality television. Even though it was, you know, I may not have been the most likable character, it was still TV versus trying to destroy America and going to Cuba 20 times and praising Fidel Castro. So against my opponent, my background’s pretty strong," he said.

The exchange, shared widely on X by accounts such as @ExxAlerts, has received coverage primarily from conservative-leaning outlets like the Daily Caller and New York Post, with no reports identified from mainstream sources including the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, CNN or MSNBC as of March 28.

Bass joined the Venceremos Brigade in 1973 at age 19. The group, which organized trips for around 10,000 Americans over decades to perform labor solidarity work such as construction and sugarcane harvesting in Cuba, supported Fidel Castro's government, according to ADN América. A 1975 edition of the Communist Party-affiliated Daily World newspaper identified Bass as the group's Southern California leader.

An FBI report from 1976 noted that Cuban intelligence had arranged weapons training for some Brigade participants. Some alumni later joined the Weather Underground, which carried out a bombing at the U.S. Capitol in 1971, predating Bass's involvement; however, the Brigade itself focused on labor activities, and no terrorism convictions have been tied directly to its operations, according to available records.

Bass has acknowledged visiting Cuba eight times in the 1970s during a 2020 "Fox News Sunday" appearance. In 2016, she described Castro's death as a "great loss to the people of Cuba," but later disavowed the remark, stating she would not repeat it. Bass has also said she had "no illusions" about Cuba's lack of freedoms during her visits and described the Castro regime as "brutal."

The Berkeley Institute poll showed Bass with 25% support among likely voters, City Councilwoman Nithya Raman at 17%, Pratt at 14%, and 25% undecided, according to FOX 11.

Pratt, a Republican running as a publicity-seeking outsider, launched his campaign in February after losing his home in the Palisades Fire. His platform emphasizes accountability for the wildfire response, an audit of homeless spending, and reforms to the city's police and fire commissions.

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