Vote Pratt cookies spark LA backlash

Spencer Pratt’s mayoral campaign spilled into a Brentwood grocery this week after “Vote Pratt” cookies sold at Vicente Foods triggered complaints and a burst of social-media attention. Posts circulating on May 22 and May 23 said the cookies were displayed at the store’s bakery counter and drew objections from at least one customer tied, in online accounts, to Jimmy Kimmel’s family. The episode quickly moved beyond a neighborhood retail dispute, with users on X framing it as a fight over politics, small business and public pressure in Los Angeles. Publicly available accounts reviewed Saturday did not establish any formal action by city officials or law enforcement tied to the cookies. ### Which store and cookies are at the center of the dispute? Vicente Foods, a longtime grocery in Brentwood, is the store named in the posts and follow-on reports about the dispute. Multiple reports published May 22 and May 23 said the bakery was selling sugar cookies decorated with “Vote Pratt,” a reference to Spencer Pratt’s Los Angeles mayoral run. Spencer Pratt is actively campaigning ahead of the June 2, 2026 Los Angeles mayoral election, according to his campaign sites. One voter-guide page says every active Los Angeles voter receives a ballot by mail and can vote in person at any LA County vote center from May 23 through June 2. ### How did the grocery-counter dispute turn into a wider online story? An X post cited in the source briefing described the cookie complaints as an attack on a small business and attached Los Angeles and small-business hashtags. (msn.com) That framing helped push the episode into broader political and cultural feeds, where users treated the store as a stand-in for a larger fight over campaign expression and neighborhood pressure. (voteforpratt.com) Yahoo and MSN aggregations published Saturday said Carly Kimmel, identified in those reports as Jimmy Kimmel’s sister-in-law, was accused online of complaining about the cookies. Those reports attribute the claims to social-media posts; they do not, in the snippets available, show a direct public statement from Carly Kimmel herself. (political.org) ### Why was Spencer Pratt already drawing this kind of attention? NBC News reported on May 14 that Pratt’s campaign had already gained viral traction through AI-generated videos circulating on social media. The report said Pratt described the clips as “fan-made” and that the posts had drawn millions of views. The Hollywood Reporter reported this month that Pratt, a former reality television figure and registered Republican, was trying to compete in a heavily Democratic city while presenting himself as a nonpartisan outsider. (msn.com) That existing attention meant even a small retail dispute could travel quickly once it attached to his name and campaign branding. (nbcnews.com) ### What is verified, and what remains allegation? Published reports reviewed Saturday verify that Vicente Foods and “Vote Pratt” cookies were central to the online dispute. They also verify that online users accused Carly Kimmel of objecting to the display. No primary public statement from Carly Kimmel was visible in the material reviewed, and the available search results do not show a response from Jimmy Kimmel, Vicente Foods or Los Angeles election officials about the incident. (hollywoodreporter.com) The available evidence supports describing the backlash as a social-media controversy centered on a private business, not a formal election dispute. (msn.com) ### What happens next in the underlying campaign? June 2 is the next fixed date in the story because it is Los Angeles election day for the mayoral race Pratt is promoting on his campaign sites. His voter guide says in-person voting at LA County vote centers opened May 23, and mail ballots can also be returned before the deadline. Vicente Foods and the people named in the online dispute may yet respond publicly, but as of Saturday the clearest next development is the election calendar itself: vote centers are open now, and ballots are due by 8 p.m. on June 2, according to Pratt’s voter guide. (msn.com) (voteforpratt.com)