Gavin Newsom is one of several California politicians that are targeted in an AI-generated ad from Spencer Pratt.

AI-generated/Spencer Pratt for Mayor

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An AI-generated ad supporting Spencer Pratt‘s Los Angeles mayoral campaign is being praised by conservatives as one of the best political ads ever made.

The Batman-inspired ad (below) depicts L.A. as ruled by an elite cadre of partying, uncaring French aristocrats — including current mayor Karen Bass (in Joker makeup), a cake-eating California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and a vodka-chugging Kamala Harris (who declares, “Bass already solved crime”).

Drawing inspiration from the mob-rule trial scenes in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, citizens are dragged before the state’s leaders, plead for help regarding issues such as homelessness or rebuilding their wildfire-destroyed homes, and are subjected to ridicule. Then The Hills alum, dressed like the Caped Crusader, leads a diverse group of residents into the courtroom to throw tomatoes and take back their city.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush called the ad “maybe the best political ad of the year.” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz posted an eyes emoji about the video. Former congressman Matt Gaetz wrote, “This is basically a maximalist expression of what a political ad can do.” One influencer wrote, “Best political ad I’ve ever seen. It’s not even close. This ad is brutal, hilarious, and 100% on point.”

The ad was created by AI filmmaker Charlie Curran (See Know Evil), whose previous spoofs videos have racked up tens of millions of views since he started posting them in January (such as a video depicting TikTok personality The Rizzler fighting in World War II). Pratt retweeted the video from his official account. According to The Spectator, Pratt did not commission the ad (and Curran did not respond to a request for comment).

The video is also raising questions about the ethics of using AI to realistically depict political foes without permission in campaign ads, even if the ads are not directly commissioned by the candidate. Author Robert Lufkin noted, “The LA mayor’s race is drawing global attention for its bold, AI-powered, highly creative campaign ads—they’re on another level. Is this a glimpse of the future of political campaigns?

Pratt is expected to face off in a mayoral debate Wednesday night versus Bass and city councilmember Nithya Raman at the Skirball Cultural Center (hopefully, without tomatoes being thrown).

> Spencer Pratt’s LA mayor ads are incredible. pic.twitter.com/uEge9Q9yyH

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) May 5, 2026

This isn’t the first time a Pratt ad has gotten attention. A previous ad, “They Not Like Us,” which was commissioned by his campaign, went viral last month.

> They not like us pic.twitter.com/78hducHDUE

— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) April 29, 2026

The home Pratt owned with his wife, Heidi Montag, burned down in the 2025 Palisades fires. The former reality star then become an evangelist for affected homeowners, and launched his mayoral campaign. An April poll put Bass at 25 percent support, followed by Pratt at 11 percent, and Raman at 9 percent.

In an interview with The Free Press, Curran — described as a commercial filmmaking veteran — said he uses tools like China’s controversial Seedance 2.0. Curran said his videos always start with a funny idea. “If there’s ever an idea that I have and I don’t do it right away and I wake up the next morning like, wait, I have to do this, I know it’s going to go viral,” he said. Curran founded Menace Studio in L.A. and has four people on staff. “The crisis of Hollywood is the Marvelfication of this slop. . . the bigger the capital costs, the less risks you can take,” he said. “The end goal is we’re going to have a movie studio and we’re going to be able to self-distribute.”

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