r/WestHollywood

I came across this on TikTok - has anyone seen this new movie about the manager of the Holloway Motel? I used to see him sitting on the balcony all the time and it looks insane.

He ran away form being a professional soccer player and was in hiding at the motel all these years and I guess the filmmakers tracked him down after all these years. The trailer looks so good.

You never know who has a crazy story in West Hollywood!

Selling 1 VIP weekend wristband for $325.00 obo! ready to ship!

Today, Rep. Laura Friedman clapped back against Paramount's Chief Legal Officer, telling him that it's her "responsibility to ask questions about mergers that could cost consumers money and put jobs at risk." It's good to see our Congresswoman signaling her opposition to the merger, but for me it comes off as insincere.

It took her 9 months to start signaling opposition against the merger. In that window, she backed the Netflix deal and repeatedly asked for empty pinky promises on jobs and production from the Ellisons.

One instance though was particularly telling.

In early March, days after Paramount pushed Netflix out of the deal, Friedman appeared in promotional material for the Motion Picture Association (MPA), the chief lobbying group for the big studios including Warner, Paramount, and Netflix. They'd like to see a merger. Not just that, MPA has also been advocating for more AI in films and pushing back hard against pending California antitrust reform.

That's not all. According to the Integrity Index's database, Friedman did this promo after taking $3,500 from MPA this cycle and $1,000 from them in her 2024 race.

Doing promos for the parasitic big businesses funding your campaign? Yeah, no thanks.

Maybe this helps explain why Friedman has yet to be as frank and vocal on the merger as numerous other politicians (not all of whom I like) including Sen. Murphy, Sen. Booker, Sen. Warren, Mamdani, and even fucking Steyer. Instead of talking turkey, she prefers to morally posture about "asking questions" and doing rigorous analysis, even though we all already know how destructive this merger would be. Maybe this helps explain why she doesn't have a view on AI in Hollywood. Maybe this also contextualizes why she appears in materials for the BigTech lobby, but has only held one in-person town hall.

I credit her for last week's letter requesting CA AG Rob Bonta exercise scrutiny in prosecuting the case. It was mostly symbolic, Bonta is doing that anyways, but it was a step in the right direction. However, that move was not just too little, too late, but more a product of local pressure than any organic interest in her district's wellbeing.

Ultimately, I'm left unpersuaded that Laura Friedman is anything but a do-nothing Democrat happy to do the bidding of whatever lobby — MPA, BigTech, AIPAC, etc. — that knocks on her door, and one deeply uncomfortable with, if not somewhat antagonistic towards, the very working people she actually represents.

We deserve better. The primary is June 2. Two progressives are challenging her from the left, Joel Lava and Cameron Tennyson. They both are not only outspoken opponents of the merger, but believe in abolishing ICE and blocking aid to Netanyahu. Give them your vote, not this windbag.

photo taken by me on Friday at the new Wilshire & La Brea Station

Thought people might be interested to know that back in 2016, Spencer Pratt said this:

11. His dream job is to be in the White House.

"I’m on the JV team of manipulation and they’re on a pro-level, higher than I can even comprehend. But yeah, I definitely always wanted to work in the White House, and work for the president, and come up with the plans to leak stories and manipulate, etc. That and work for the CIA, obviously."

[source]

Anyway, just wanted to share in case people might find that interesting!