Socialist Nithya Raman has been racking up Hollywood support in her bid to unseat Karen Bass as Mayor of Los Angeles, scoring A-list contributors like Tina Fey and Colin Jost.
A recent profile from Variety noted that Raman’s Hollywood connections run deep due to her husband, TV writer-producer Vali Chandrasekaran (30 Rock, Modern Family), with contributors that include Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling, Mike Schur, Colin Jost, Nicholas Stoller, Cord Jefferson, David Mandel, and many others. This past April, actor Adam Scott (Severance) introduced her at a 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 said.
Noticeably absent from the scene is Dreamworks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg, who 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 Bass’s office.”
“After leading President Biden’s fundraising outreach to Hollywood during the 2024 reelection bid — which did not end well — Katzenberg has withdrawn from the political scene and has not been involved in Bass’ reelection effort,” noted Variety.
A spokesperson for Katzenberg said the media mogul is “taking some time away from politics.”
Despite Raman’s gains, reality TV star Spencer Pratt has also seen some Hollywood support, with contributors like Katharine McPhee, David Foster, Haim Saban, Justine Bateman, and Jenny McCarthy. TV producers Craig Plestis (The Masked Singer), Jeff Jenkins (The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives) and Sandra Lee (Dr. Pimple Popper) have also thrown their support behind Pratt.
“But it’s Raman who has taken the lion’s share of Hollywood endorsements, with her donor list resembling a social committee for the Writers Guild of America,” added Variety. “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 Valentine’s Day Special.'”