Our spring sale is now live — get full access for just $2/week, 50% OFF for 12 months. Lock in your rate before the offer ends. Greetings!In this newsletter: A turn in the L.A. mayoral race, Blake Lively's future and NBCUniversal's ad chief speaks ahead of upfronts Does Spencer Pratt have a chance of becoming Los Angeles' mayor? That's the tenor of the conversation sparked by last night's mayoral debate, which saw the former reality TV star lay into both Mayor Karen Bass and Councilwoman Nithya Raman, blaming them for a "failed Hollywood" and painting them both as part of the problem. His rise in many ways mirrors the ascendancy of Donald Trump, the former reality TV star whose entry into the 2016 presidential race was initially treated as a joke. Trump effectively harnessed discontent with the status quo and used his outsider status to slam everything wrong with the government. Likewise, Pratt, who has no experience in city governance, has a compelling and sympathetic story. He was one of the thousands affected by the Palisades and Altadena wildfires whose response and recovery efforts have been widely panned — and has been able to effectively weaponize the very real dissatisfaction with the management of L.A. against two career politicians. When asked if the current leadership was doing enough for the entertainment industry, Pratt replied bluntly. “Absolutely not,” the former reality TV star said. “Both of these people have been the reason why there’s no more Hollywood.” Like Trump, he's also become a darling of the right. The debate put both Bass and Raman on the defensive, with Raman seemingly taking a brunt of the criticism. The city councilmember has struggled to leave a strong impression in these debates. Pratt's performance raises the question of whether this marks an inflection point for the mayoral election, and if Pratt actually has a shot at winning this thing. The L.A. mayoral election will be held on June 2, with a runoff slated for Nov. 3 if no candidate wins a majority of the vote, which is widely expected to happen. Roger Cheng Before we move on, be sure to follow me on my socials linked below for the latest updates. DMs are open for tips.    
As a former reality TV star, Pratt offers a perspective that's sympathetic to the entertainment community... 
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