Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag were planning to celebrate the 15th anniversary of “Superficial” when tragedy hit: the wildfires in California burned down their home in Pacific Palisades.
“It’s just the weirdest, craziest time,” Pratt tells Variety via Zoom. “When everything was going on, I saw an email pop up that the album was going live, and I was like, ‘Oh, my God.’ I just made a TikTok reminding people to stream. I was looking for anything income-wise.”
On Jan. 8, he shared the news that both his house and his parents’ house were lost in the fires, and posted videos from their evacuation and the damage they watched happen from afar via security footage — including one of their two sons’ beds catching fire in the shape of a heart.
“I know people are like, ‘You’re rich, you will be fine.’ Yeah, I wish. Everything in our house was paid for by Heidi and I hustling any way we could,” he wrote on TikTok at the time. “Everything we have worked for was in this house… we are starting at zero now.”
So, Pratt began posting — a lot. His follower count has increased by more than a million since the fire (he hit two million on Friday), and he has encouraged those watching to stream Montag’s music. Even as he hyped Montag’s album continuously, he didn’t expect the album actually to skyrocket to the top of the iTunes and Spotify charts,or for celebrities like Paris Hilton, Julia Fox, Emily Ratajkowski, Alix Earle, Flavor Flav and many more to post with it on social media.
However, he’s not sure if he’s actually making a profit. “I have no idea how much money [the music has made]. I don’t know if it comes in checks or when, but everybody keeps telling me, don’t expect any money. I’m more excited about the energy and opportunities that come from it. I don’t think these streams and all these charts [make money],” Pratt says. “Based on what people are telling me, the music business is about touring, it’s about merchandise, it’s about all the things that come with it; that’s how the artists make money unless you’re doing billions of streams, which I’m still energetically [pushing]. It’s not happening yet! I’m being optimistic because truly, it’s the only way to get through all this.”
Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag arrive at “The Hills” Season 3 premiere in 2007
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Pratt has been candid on TikTok and Snapchat about creating longer videos and posting often to make money. However, he says, while we often hear about creators who make so much, his RPM (which means revenue per one thousand views) is extremely low — 10 cents. Pratt says he watched a video one fan did breaking down TikTok’s financial model to learn about why his rate is so low, and discovered that because he’s not talking about subjects the TikTok algorithm can monetize with ads — say, on a cooking account — his RPM is lower. And because he gained nearly a million new followers in one week, his RPM is also lower, because the TikTok algorithm doesn’t know what to make of his account.
“I heard that last night at 3 a.m. and I was like, awesome. I’ve never been so excited to get a million followers in a week. I think I would be making more money with my following, and just being engaged,” he says.
Unlike with music, he’s able to see directly on TikTok how much he’s making.
“I made, like, $4,000 on TikTok this week, but on TikTok Live, where people can just give to me direct, I think maybe $20,000. So that’s phenomenal, and life-changing. That’s the power of individual supporters, people just backing you and getting behind you,” says Pratt. “And that’s the most powerful when you don’t have to rely on ads or AI and algorithms when just actual human beings just want to give. It’s unbelievable and incredible.”
Additionally, once he’s able to get into his Pratt Daddy offices in the Palisades, he’ll begin shipping new “Superficial” T-shirts, and there’ve been about 5,000 orders. While he used to print them himself, there is now a larger company helping. He’s also reached out to companies to partner on creating hummingbird feeders — something he often shared from the backyard of his home.
Pratt is hopeful that paid partnerships will also be beneficial. Lo Bosworth, who starred in “Laguna Beach” and later met Pratt on “The Hills,” shared that her women’s wellness company, Love Wellness, is ready to partner with him. There’s nothing official yet, but he says he’s so appreciative of her support.
Since the fires, many fans and celebrities alike have asked for a studio to produce a reality show with the couple. While Pratt first mentioned Hulu, he says he’s open to any meetings with any producers who would want to chronicle his family’s rebuilding process.
“I wish we’d already started filming because it’s so raw and so real. We’re connected to so many people whose stories aren’t getting heard, and all the small businesses that we’re part of. It’d be such a great opportunity to document it,” he says. “We’re already doing it on social media, so I’d like to let my thumb have a rest and have a bigger camera doing it while I deal with emails and things coming in.”
For now, Pratt is trying his best to look at the silver lining — the anniversary of the “Superficial” album falling at the same time as the fires — and helping to remind Montag of that. “Since I’ve met Heidi, she has said — because I complain about a lot of situations — she’s like, ‘God uses everything for good.’ I’ll ask how and she says, ‘It could be on God’s timing, you don’t know God’s timing,’” he says. “She’s been distraught and I’m like, ‘Honey, God’s timing. We don’t know. There could be something great that comes out of it.’
“I obviously feel insane,” he continues. “I’m faking the positivity.”
One thing that isn’t fake is the gratitude. “We’re so thankful. There are always going to be negative trolls and people trying to break you down, but there are so many more people that have really gotten behind our family and want us to be successful,” says Pratt before we end our interview. “I also understand how lucky we are to have that, and I look forward to the future and getting into a position where I can help other people.”
