Actor Taylor Lautner is facing criticism for seemingly endorsing Republican candidate and former reality TV personality Spencer Pratt for the Los Angeles mayoral election. It comes amid Democratic candidate Nithya Raman taking the lead in the November runoff election, joining incumbent mayor Karen Bass.
On May 13, Pratt, 42, took to Instagram and shared a carousel of images of himself posing in the middle of a Los Angeles residential street with the skyline in the background. It was captioned:
“Our city’s new golden age starts right here. VOTE TODAY! Camera emoji: @stillbrazy.”
Lautner, 34, entered Spencer Pratt’s comment section at the time and wrote:
“@stillbrazy let’s goooooo [two fire emojis].”
It appears the Twilight alum was giving a shoutout to Pratt’s photographer, rather than Pratt himself. Regardless, now Lautner is getting slammed for dropping the comment.
For instance, X influencer @notcapnamerica posted a pictures of Spencer breaking down and a list of celebrities who endorsed him for the mayoral election. The caption read:
“Spencer Pratt has been eliminated from the Los Angeles mayor race. Here’s a list of the celebrities who humiliated themselves by endorsing him.”
The list had Taylor’s name, to which his fellow X user @MissSassbox replied:
“For some reason, the only one that genuinely felt unexpected and disappointing was Taylor Lautner. seemed like he had some sort of sense, but apparently, he’s capable of being imprinted on, too.”
Here are others who joined the conversation and left behind similar reactions.
“Taylor Lautner?!?!? That’s disappointing,” a fan wrote.
“Taylor Lautner? Glad I was always Team Edward!” another fan wrote.
“Since when did Jacob from Twilight become MAGA?” one fan enquired.
Others continued to weigh in.
“Only surprised by 3 of them. Wtf Taylor Lautner,” a netizen wrote.
“Taylor Lautner, you’re one of them. Khloé Kardashian, not surprised. Anywho!” another netizen wrote.
Meanwhile, an eagle-eyed user pointed out that Lautner may not have directly endorsed Pratt. The person wrote:
“I’m just curious. When did Taylor Lautner endorse Spencer Pratt?”
Lautner has yet to respond to the claim and backlash.
Taylor Lautner has a baby on the way
Amid the online controversy, it is noteworthy that Taylor Lautner is expecting his first baby with his wife, Taylor “Tay” Dome Lautner. In late March, the couple announced their pregnancy with an outdoor photoshoot, where they were seen holding ultrasound images. The caption read:
“What’s better than two Taylor Lautners?”
Later, on Mother’s Day, the actor shared more pictures from the photoshoot and wrote:
“Happy Mother’s Day to all the unbelievable ones out there. None of us would be here and be who we are today without you. You are the real heroes. Also, can’t wait to celebrate this one every single day from here forward @taylautner.”
A week ago, the couple shared a reel of their close friends and family members predicting the baby’s gender.
“The results are in!! What do you think baby Lautner is?” the caption asked.
17 hours ago, both Taylors revealed they are having a girl.
“Our little secret is now yours,” the couple wrote in a joint post where they were seen seated on the sofa in front of a laptop, expecting the results, and sharing their joy once they realized they had a daughter on the way.
Later, in his IG Stories, Mr Lautner wrote how he’d always dreamt of being a “girl dad” and now it was finally coming true. He explained how he has always been surrounded by women, including his mother, baby sister, wife, best friends, and even puppies. Taylor ended it by saying he couldn’t wait to meet his newborn and added, “Team girl.”
For the unaware, Taylor met his wife, a nurse, in 2018. They tied the knot four years later at Epoch Estate Winery in California.
Spencer Pratt declared his mayoral candidacy in January, before kicking off his campaign at a Pacific Palisades demonstration. He had since received endorsement from Donald Trump, Joe Rogan, Elon Musk and other known conservative public figures.
Now, people are reacting with disbelief and disappointment to not only Lautner but also Paris Hilton and Big Sean’s names in the list. Pratt had previously claimed he’d leave L.A. if he lost the election.
Edited by Pallavi K