Khloé Kardashian has faced backlash on social media for publicly criticizing Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass during the ongoing Los Angeles County wildfires, which began on Tuesday, January 7.
As wildfires spread across Los Angeles, many people took to social media to express their grief, anger, and confusion about the situation.
Kardashian followed suit, posting an Instagram Story with a clip from an interview with Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley.
In the video, Chief Crowley revealed that the fire department had been subjected to significant budget cuts, and that she had previously sent a memo to the mayor’s office warning that the cuts would result in limited response.
Kardashian shared the video and added her emotional reactions.
“I stand by YOU Chief Crowley!!!!” She wrote. “You spoke the truth and you had tears in your eyes because I can tell you didn’t even want to say that but it was THE TRUTH!!!!”
The reality star went on to thank the chief for his honesty, but chastised the mayor in return.
“Mayor Bass you are a joke!!!!” She added.
While no one denies that the reaction to the catastrophic event was unfavorable, many people couldn’t help but criticize Kardashian’s rash outrage.
Since the story was deleted after 24 hours, social media users have expressed their outrage on several of Kardashian’s other photos.
“Calling for the mayor to resign when you and your family have consistently ignored water restrictions and are some of the biggest contributors to the conditions in LA that caused the fires in the first place – we should have left yall back in 2018 when you still mattered SMH,” wrote a user on Instagram.
Council member Jessie Lopez’s account provided hard numbers to back up Kardashian’s claims of being loud and wrong. “During a drought in 2022, Khloe used approximately 101,000 gallons more water than allowed.
Her sister Kim Kardashian used 232,000 gallons more than the limit. IN ONE MONTH ALONE. “I wonder how much she’s gone over the limit in the last year?”
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This follower pointed out that Kardashian didn’t put much action behind her words. “Where are your donations, kadarshians??? You have trillions. Where are your contributions to the community? With all of your money, you haven’t shared a single post or story about how or where you helped.”
Several followers chastised KoKo for “spreading misinformation” about the severity of the alleged budget cuts, which were discovered to have increased by slightly more than $50 million in November 2024, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Even California Governor Gavin Newsom has used social media to correct the misinformation. “The TRUTH: CA did not reduce our firefighting budget. We have nearly doubled the size of our firefighting army and built the world’s largest aerial firefighting fleet. – CA has increased forest management by tenfold since taking office.
California will not allow looting. “Get the facts at http://californiafirefacts.com,” Newsom tweeted on January 11.
“Well, well. Would you look at that? The fire chief is now looking into her false claims of a budget cut. In fact, the department is on track to spend an additional 72 million dollars on top of the 95 million from their annual budget of 800 million dollars.
There was no 17 million-dollar cut. You should go to jail for spreading this propaganda. “At the very least, you should apologize to the mayor for spreading those lies, which have now been debunked,” said one knowledgeable Instagram user.
Then, some followers wondered why Kardashian felt so at ease pointing the finger and spewing her biased opinions about Mayor Bass, a Black woman.
“Khloe, Mayor Bass, is a strong black woman who is smart and compassionate. How dare you refer to her as a joke! You know who pressed and hound her to make budget cuts? Republicans!!! So you call her a “joke” and blame her for the crisis? And then ask middle-class people to donate? “How about you go do something first?” said one commenter.
Another person brought up an important point: “So now you have something to say when it’s a black woman, but you and your family remained silent when it came to Trump. “How many lives do you believe he is about to destroy?”
This user’s comment received more than 2,000 likes. “Typical Kardashians are always so tone-deaf. I’m guessing your fetish for black men ends when a black woman is involved, correct?
You were quiet during the election, and now you want to blame a black woman despite knowing that LA’s water supply is owned by the Resnicks, who I’m sure are your besties. That’s embarrassing.
“Bc folk love to tear a blk woman down as soon as the time seems appropriate/acceptable,” said one disappointed follower. This person echoed the sentiment, saying, “Always attacking black women, but silent during racist elections.”
A different person commented, “You can spread misinformation about a black woman but won’t call out the resnicks.”
Since the overwhelming response, Kardashian has remained consistent in sharing posts about local resources and “thanking” first responders, volunteers, frontline workers, and firefighters for putting their lives on the line to fight the fires.
