Socialist Nithya Raman, Wife to ‘Modern Family’ TV Producer, Racks Up Hollywood Support in L.A. Mayor Race
Socialist Nithya Raman has racked up Hollywood support in her bid to unseat Karen Bass as mayor of Los Angeles, scoring high-profile contributors like Tina Fey and Colin Jost.
A recent profile of Variety noted that Raman’s connections in Hollywood run deep through her husband, television writer-producer Vali Chandrasekaran (30 Rock, Modern family), with contributors including Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling, Mike Schur, Colin Jost, Nicholas Stoller, Cord Jefferson, David Mandel and many others. Last April, actor Adam Scott (Breakup) introduced her at a garden fundraiser in Santa Monica.
“She wins because she does shit, and she does shit because she has a plan for everything,” Scott said.
Noticeably absent from the scene is Dreamworks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg, who spent “$2 million to help Bass defeat mall billionaire Rick Caruso in 2022, then invested $300,000 in LA4LA, an affordable housing effort in partnership with Bass’s office.”
“After leading President Biden’s Hollywood fundraising campaign during the 2024 re-election campaign – which did not end well – Katzenberg withdrew from the political scene and was not involved in Bass’s re-election efforts,” noted Variety.
A spokesperson for Katzenberg said the media mogul was “stepping away from politics.”
Despite Raman’s earnings, reality TV star Spencer Pratt also benefited from support from Hollywood, with contributors including Katharine McPhee, David Foster, Haim Saban, Justine Bateman and Jenny McCarthy. Television Producers Craig Plestis (The Masked Singer), Jeff Jenkins (The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives) and Sandra Lee (Dr. Pimple Popper) also gave their support to Pratt.
“But it’s Raman who has garnered the lion’s share of Hollywood support, with his list of donors resembling a Writers Guild of America social committee,” added Variety. “On Thursday, supporters will host a fundraiser at Dynasty Typewriter, Westlake’s comedy club, where a cast including Lake Bell, Will Forte, Adam DeVine, Bobby Moynihan, Chelsea Peretti and Paul Scheer will perform a live reading of ‘Harley Quinn: A Very Problematic Valentine’s Day Special.'”
