Spencer Pratt & Heidi Montag Address Backlash Over Accepting Donations After They Lost Their Home in the LA Fires

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Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt are addressing the public backlash they’ve received after accepting donations following the loss of their home in the Pacific Palisades during the recent Southern California fires. The couple, who became household names on The Hills, have been candid about their struggle in the wake of the disaster, but some critics have questioned their decision to accept financial help.

In a new interview with Us Weekly, Spencer, 41, responded to the criticism by making it clear that they’re used to negative comments and don’t let them get to them. “We’re very used to negative things, so it’s pretty standard,” Spencer said. “If people want to send their own money to whoever they want, it’s the equivalent to buying a celebrity’s merch, buying their movie tickets. People can do whatever they want with their own money and, thank God, there’s people who want to support and send us whatever.”

Spencer emphasized that no one is obligated to donate. “Nobody’s required to, and it’s not a tax,” he added. “People can say whatever they want and they’re entitled to their opinion. But, all the people that are messaging, they’re asking to send money, they’re asking to do the Amazon wishlist. … These are their choices.”

The donations first began after a group of Spencer and Heidi’s TikTok followers set up a GoFundMe campaign on their behalf. Spencer recalled the initial shock and gratitude he felt when the campaign launched. “When this first happened, that first day, they created a GoFundMe on their own and it just kept on doing great and so amazing,” he shared. “And then they transferred it over to us. We’re so thankful for them doing that and they set up the Amazon wishlist.”

As of now, the GoFundMe has raised over $135,000 from fans who want to help the couple rebuild their lives. Heidi, 38, also weighed in on the situation, explaining that they didn’t ask for any of the donations. “Then our friends Brandon and Courtney [from TikTok] were like, ‘We don’t care what you say. We know people who want to donate money to you and even if it’s one donation that’s going to help you,’” Heidi said. “So, we had no expectation of anyone donating. I haven’t posted it, but we’ve had so many people wanting to give $5.”

Spencer added that the backlash stems from a misunderstanding of how much money is actually being given. “People are like, ‘Oh, they’re asking for money,’” he said. “That’s a coffee for somebody, so somebody bought us a coffee. It’s just in volume, so it may look like all it’s money, but scroll [through and see] it’s just people sending you a latte.”

Spencer further explained that the controversy likely comes from people assuming that all celebrities are swimming in wealth. “Nobody thought we were rich celebrities until three days ago and it’s getting frustrating. Like if you Google ‘Spencer,’ it literally [says] ‘Broke, no net worth,’” he said. “My net worth on that site that you search for the last 15 years … has been $1,000. So now our house burns down, my parents’ house burns down [and] now we’re rich celebrities, which is infuriating because the media, respectfully, has never called us celebrities [and] never called us rich.”

Spencer went on to clarify that they’re not pretending to be something they’re not. “It’s this weird disconnect that we’re getting grouped in with actual rich celebrities, which it’s great if we were … but we’re not, people know that.”

According to Spencer, most of the negative comments come from “haters.” He is adamant that anyone who has been following their journey knows they’re not living a lavish lifestyle. “There’s nobody with a brain [who] thinks we’re rich celebrities. It’s like these are just hater people trolling,” he said. “The people [who] are supporting us and have been following our lifestyle on social media, they see we’re not rich celebrities. They see what we do every day. We have been posting our life on Snapchat for the last 11 years, all day long. Our audience knows we’re not rich celebrities, they know we just eat Mexican food and we get organic eggs and they know we do it. We film everything.”

Fans have also been supporting Heidi and Spencer in other ways, including boosting Heidi’s 2010 album Superficial to No. 1 on iTunes, helping the couple earn more money as they recover from their devastating loss.