Spencer Pratt hits back at Jimmy Kimmel’s mockery with biting blackface reminder

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Spencer Pratt cracked open the vault of Jimmy Kimmel’s past and dragged one of the host’s most embarrassing controversies back into public view in a scorching retaliation for his mockery.

The 58-year-old Late Night Show host has been taking jabs at the 42-year-old reality show alum since he made his debut in the political arena with an ambitious run for mayor of one of the nation's largest and most predominantly Democratic cities after losing his home in the devastating 2025 wildfire.

Pratt, who shot to fame on MTV's ‘The Hills’ alongside his wife Heidi Montag, has now seen a major political rise in Los Angeles as he's continually battered Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) over her leadership and response to the Palisades fires.

Jimmy Kimmel calls Spencer Pratt ‘Karen’

In the opening monologue of his latest episode about the Los Angeles mayoral race, Kimmel roasted Pratt, saying, "It could take a while for Democrats here in Los Angeles to figure out which of their friends secretly voted for Spencer Pratt.”

"Barring a late ballot buzzer-beater, it appears Mayor Karen Bass will advance to a runoff against the former reality show villain,” he continued.

"Sixty per cent of the vote has been counted. If that holds, it means in November Los Angelenos are going to have to choose between a woman named Karen and a man who is one," Kimmel said, referencing the "Karen" slur for a demanding, middle-class White woman.

Kimmel said the public should be “embarrassed” that Spencer Pratt had emerged as one of the top two finalists in the mayoral race.

“He should be DJing the worst New Year's Eve party in Reno right now. unlikely to win. In fact, he's already filming a reality show about his run for mayor, so he definitely has his priorities in order,” the host quipped.

Spencer Pratt resurfaces Jimmy Kimmel’s blackface controversy

Pratt, whose campaign has leaned heavily on AI-generated social media content, took a different approach in responding to Kimmel's criticism.

Instead, he resurfaced an image from the late-night host's controversial blackface appearance on ‘The Man Show,’ where Kimmel famously portrayed former NBA star Karl Malone.

The incident has sparked a major backlash against Kimmel in recent years, leading Kimmel to apologize for this skit, saying he intended for it to be just another celebrity impression.

"I've done dozens of impressions of famous people, including Snoop Dogg, Oprah [Winfrey], Eminem, Dick Vitale, Rosie [O'Donnell], and many others. In each case, I thought of them as impersonations of celebrities and nothing more," he said at the time.

"Looking back, many of these sketches are embarrassing, and it is frustrating that these thoughtless moments have become a weapon used by some to diminish my criticisms of social and other injustices."