The controversial images of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass at a cocktail party as the California wildfires spread have been taken down by the staffer who posted them.

But days after the photos of the Democrat enjoying her time overseas in Ghana had circulated online and earned her scathing backlash, taking them down seemed a strange afterthought.

“Karen Bass’s Director of Community Engagement, who posted the photos of the Mayor at a cocktail party while the Palisades burned, deleted her entire Instagram account and took the photos down from her LinkedIn,” wrote Eric Spiegelman in a post on X.

Karen Bass’s Director of Community Engagement, who posted the photos of the Mayor at a cocktail party while the Palisades burned, deleted her entire Instagram account and took the photos down from her LinkedIn. pic.twitter.com/MT5uxeVVfd

— Eric Spiegelman (@ericspiegelman) January 16, 2025

Bass was attending the inauguration of Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama even after she had pledged not to travel internationally as mayor. The images set off heated criticism and Bass attempted to defend herself upon her return home.

“Although I wasn’t physically here, I was in touch with many of the individuals standing here throughout the entire time,” she said at a press conference.

Actress Justine Bateman was among those lashing out at local and state leaders over their handling of the devastating fires that have claimed more than two dozen lives and left swaths of Los Angeles County in ash and rubble

“What are we doing with these people running our city?” she asked in a post reacting to the deleted photos of Bass.

What are we doing with these people running our city? https://t.co/QIeJmv21XD

— Justine Bateman (@JustineBateman) January 16, 2025

In another post, Bateman got the attention of X owner Elon Musk when she called out how officials have “mismanaged” California.

“We already knew that the city and state was being mismanaged, before these fire disasters. This will only get worse,” she posted. “I am not willing to find out how unprepared the city and state is for a major earthquake.”

Absolutely https://t.co/JnKhx6Pkak

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2025

Bateman was not alone in slamming Bass’s staffer for removing the cocktail party images and posts.

Do they not realize this looks even worse for them since everyone already saw the pictures and has them saved? Not very bright people at the helm here.

— SuzytheFox (@SuzytheFox) January 16, 2025

Good thing the internet is forever lol. https://t.co/g3Bnl0AO3f

— Bethany Thomas (@_bethany_thomas) January 16, 2025

I don’t know why they’re still in their seats. I really don’t.
I’m hoping that next week, both Gavin Newsom, and Karen Bass are gone. I hope President Trump sends a team to CA to deliver the type of message to Newsom and Bass that results in them walking away in shame

— Meezmo April (@MeezmoApril) January 16, 2025

Tone deaf. But they consistently show their true colors.

— Michael Manzione (@man44952) January 17, 2025

Its hard to hold people accountable when they all are corrupt.

— Sher_Bear (@SherryRSher) January 16, 2025

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Frieda Powers

Senior Staff Writer
Frieda@bizpacreview.com

Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.

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