As wildfires began to engulf parts of Los Angeles and its surrounding communities, many people online, including celebrities and politicians, were quick to criticize the city’s mayor, Karen Bass, accusing her of poor leadership and slow response times as she rushed back to the city from Ghana. That criticism came though it was still unclear what ignited the fires that have since left at least 25 people dead, destroyed thousands of homes and charred nearly 40,000 acres.
In response, numerous Black women have come to her defense, saying that Ms. Bass is facing a double standard that they feel many Black female leaders confront in this country.
Among those pushing for patience and fair treatment is Areva Martin, a Los Angeles civil rights lawyer. In a post on X, she called out what she described as “pervasive disinformation” about Ms. Bass. In a phone interview on Tuesday, Ms. Martin said the political climate in the country had played a huge role in the criticism of Ms. Bass.
“We have seen the far right capitalizing on natural disasters and other tragedies and using them as an opportunity to sow division and chaos and to cause doubt about the leadership of Democratic-elected officials, particularly African American elected officials,” Ms. Martin said.
The critics have been fierce. After the fires broke out, President-elect Donald J. Trump said on his Truth Social site that the officials in charge of fighting the wildfires were “incompetent,” claiming that they have “no idea how to put them out.” Rick Caruso, a real estate developer who lost to Ms. Bass in the mayoral race in 2022, has referred to her leadership and absence at the start of the wildfires as “a massive failure of epic proportions.”
Despite warnings of extreme fire risk in the area, Ms. Bass, who had previously said she would not travel abroad as mayor, was on an official trip to Ghana to attend the inauguration of its new president when the blaze broke out on Jan. 7. She returned to Los Angeles on Jan. 8.
But mixed in with questions of her decision to travel were misleading claims about cuts to the city’s fire department budget that Ms. Bass approved last year. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of The Los Angeles Times, posted on X that “competence matters,” referring to her decisions. However, the city and the firefighters’ union were negotiating a new contract when the city’s budget was approved last year and the fire department’s budget did not yet include expected raises, meaning this year’s fire budget is actually $53 million higher than it was last year.
Joining the chorus of critical voices were celebrities based in Los Angeles, including Sarah Michelle Gellar, James Woods, Khloe Kardashian and Sara Foster, all of whom slammed Ms. Bass’s response and leadership.
It is common for elected leaders to be blamed by people in a time of crisis, with Gov. Gavin Newsom also being a frequent target in the current news cycle. But after the initial criticism of Ms. Bass, a wave of voices, many of whom are Black women, began defending the mayor, saying that Black women are criticized more intensely than other groups.
Luvvie Ajayi Jones, an author, speaker and digital strategist in Chicago, had a post of support for Ms. Bass shared widely across social media, with more than 10,000 likes on Instagram alone. She said in a phone interview that this was yet another in a long line of cases where Black women are scapegoated.
“It’s obscene the ways in which people are trying to find reasons to come at her and I think it’s so convenient for them because, again, it’s become such a commonplace thing to do,” Ms. Jones said.
The actress and talk show host Whoopi Goldberg said on “The View” on Monday that she took “great offense” at those who are already pointing fingers at city and state officials. And the actresses Yvette Nicole Brown and Kym Whitley stood up for Ms. Bass, the first woman and second Black person to be elected mayor of Los Angeles, during a TMZ interview this week, citing race and misogyny as a reason she was facing more criticism than her peers.
In a phone interview on Tuesday, Ms. Brown, who has been living in California for about 30 years, said she had never seen the mayor of a single city “thrown under the bus” after a natural diaster.
“So I’ve decided,” she said, “after what happened to Kamala Harris in that election, where misinformation was left unchecked and was able to flourish for too long, I’m going to get in front of this and fight for Mayor Bass before it congeals into another big lie.”
Ms. Jones said she believed that it is common for Black female leaders to inherit issues that existed before they assumed the role, only to be subsequently blamed for them when things went wrong. She referenced the treatment of Vice President Kamala Harris during her 2024 presidential race and the discourse around Claudine Gay, the former president of Harvard University who resigned after criticism of her congressional testimony about antisemitism and accusations of plagiarism.
“It is tiring to watch it happen over and over and over again,” Ms. Jones said.
Ms. Martin, who echoed many of Ms. Jones’s sentiments, said she supported Ms. Bass’s election in part because of her previous roles serving in the House of Representatives and the State Assembly, as well as her experience as a community organizer.
“Any notion that she’s incompetent or that she’s a D.E.I. hire, it’s offensive,” she said.
