Spencer Pratt became the ultimate anti-hero amid the Los Angeles fires. Now he's suing.

Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt are taking a whole city to court over the horrors they faced during the Los Angeles fires.

The couple has filed a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles and the Department of Water and Power, after they lost their Pacific Palisades home in devastating wildfires this month.

The lawsuit, filed on January 21, 2025, alleges that the city's mismanagement of water resources — in particular the non-operational Santa Ynez Reservoir — led to firefighting failures.

The couple, along with more than 20 other property owners, claim the fire damage was "an inescapable and unavoidable consequence" of the city's water system management.

The Pratts, who were not insured, lost their home when local hydrants failed after water tanks were depleted within 12 hours.

The latest news from the couple comes as their online popularity skyrocketed in the aftermath of the fires.

When it comes to reality TV villains, you don't get much more iconic than Spencer Pratt.

Joining the reality TV juggernaut The Hills in 2007 where he would meet his future wife, Heidi Montag, Pratt quickly became the nemesis of the show's hero and star, Lauren Conrad.

It was a role he took on wholeheartedly and Speidi (their affectionate couple name) became two of the most hated celebs on the planet.

It's been 15 years since The Hills ended and against the odds, Spencer and Heidi are still married and have two sons together, Gunner, seven, and Ryker, two.

But in the past few weeks, they've found themselves in an unlikely position: they're the subjects of an outpouring of public sympathy — and some vitriol — following the loss of their home in the devastating Los Angeles fires.

Speidi was the '00s most controversial couple. Image: Getty.

The couple lost their $4.8 million mansion, with their home in the Pacific Palisades being one of thousands destroyed in the destructive wildfires decimating the area.

Along with thousands of others, the family was suddenly evacuated last week, which meant they had to leave behind most of their belongings that have since perished.

"I'm watching our house burn down on the security cameras," Spencer shared in real-time on Snapchat. Spencer has been sharing frequently on both Snapchat and TikTok, documenting the family's harrowing past few weeks.

Watch a Sunrise segment discussing if the LA fires could happen in Australia. Post continues after video.

From going through the ruins of his family home and rummaging through the belongings that could be salvaged, it's impossible to not feel for the young family.

Heidi broke down in tears as she posted on TikTok about losing her home as she carried her son, Ryker.

"I just want to go home. I just want to feel my stuff and sit on my couch. I'm so homesick," she cried.

@heidimontag

Missing home

♬ original sound - heidimontag

But along with the sorrow, Spencer has provided an unexpectedly funny perspective on what the family has faced. He posts every few hours on social media, sharing some hilarious insights about what they've gone through.

He even joked about the lack of empathy coming from the internet, where suddenly the narrative turned to people claiming they didn't feel sorry for the couple because they are 'famous' and 'rich'.

"You know, one of my favourite things about my house burning down?" he curiously asked his followers, which has grown to almost 2 million since the unfolding tragedy.

"Ever since 2010 when The Hills was cancelled, everyone on social media and Google that I've ever read about myself is that I'm a broke nobody," he said to camera for a TikTok filmed on a beach.

"But then it takes all of our possessions and house burning down and now on all my comments section, everyone's like 'What are you crying about? You're a rich celebrity.' My gosh! What a rebrand!"

@spencerpratt

♬ original sound - Spencer Pratt

Along with posting near-constant videos giving people updates about what it's like to be a victim of the horrific fires, which has so far destroyed more than 10,000 homes across Los Angeles, Spencer has also seized the chance to boost his wife's music career.

The Hills fans will know that Heidi famously had aspirations to be a pop star, releasing a slew of songs and even an album.

Pratt asked his followers to stream his wife's 2010 album, Superficial, to give the family income since they'd lost everything. In response, the songs have been going viral on TikTok with even model Emily Ratajkowski showing love for Heidi.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt)

Montag's album eventually reached No. 1 on iTunes. "Thank you everyone," Spencer captioned an Instagram video.

"Who needs a house, who needs clothes … who needs anything but this level of clout pop superstardom?" he joked.

"Thank you everyone who made this happen! I don't even care if it goes away in five minutes, I got this screenshot. I'm going to blow this up … I'm going to get it framed."

@spencerpratt

I hate so many people it’s crazy sickos

♬ original sound - Spencer Pratt

The ex-reality star has also been attempting to game the TikTok system by appealing to his followers to re-watch and like old content in order to monteize them.

"If possible, can you go to the post before this and watch and like that video?" Spencer said, referring to a video from January. "Because I'll get up to $1,100 from TikTok if it's one of the top 10 most liked TikToks with that song, so, more likely $200, but it can go up to $1,100."

Spencer's ability to hustle in the most devastating of circumstances has made him popular online, which is a far cry from his public perception a decade ago when he was considered the biggest villain on reality TV.

As a millennial, one of the biggest plot twist of my life is how much I like Spencer Pratt (now). Love his humor. Love his character. pic.twitter.com/sbH4qOspZu

— Carine 🩶 goodbye my beloved eras tour (@CarineK) January 10, 2025

Considering just how devastating and unprecedented these Los Angeles fires have been, with 16 people losing their lives, any joy we can find from these horrors is needed.

And who would have imagined this would have come from Spencer Pratt of all people? Not me!

Feature image: TikTok/@spencerpratt.

This article was originally published on January 13, 2025 and has since been updated with new information.