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Recorded call with Karen Bass resurfaces
A recorded phone call between Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and businessman John Alle, made days before the Palisades fire, is resurfacing ahead of the primary election.
LOS ANGELES - A recorded phone call involving Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, made days before the Palisades Fire, is drawing renewed attention after the man who says he recorded it publicly identified himself — prompting sharp disagreement over what the conversation was about.
The recording, first leaked last year and viewed millions of times online, is resurfacing now just weeks before the primary election. John Alle, a Los Angeles business owner, has come forward, saying he was the other person on the call.
Alle said he captured roughly 90 seconds of the Jan. 4, 2025, call, three days before the Palisades fire, saying he wanted to document the exchange.
"I knew I couldn’t write that fast, so I recorded part of it for my own safety and for posterity," Alle said.
Alle, who owns multiple properties across Los Angeles, said he had regular contact with Bass and claimed she relied on him for updates about conditions in the city.
He contends the conversation included warnings about wind conditions and broader fire risk.
"I warned her of the winds. It was more than MacArthur Park — it was about L.A. and fire," Alle said.
But Bass’ campaign forcefully disputes that characterization, saying the call had nothing to do with fire danger and instead focused on law enforcement operations scheduled for MacArthur Park.
"The misinformation and conspiracies exploiting people's loss in the Palisades is disgusting, and it's a distraction from the recovery and rebuilding progress we've seen so far," said Alex Stack, a representative for Mayor Bass.
The campaign added that "the mayor had a conversation with this individual about law enforcement operations in MacArthur Park," and called it "a case of the mayor keeping constituents updated about important city matters."
The dueling accounts underscore a central disagreement: whether the call was a routine update about localized law enforcement activity, as the mayor’s team says, or a broader conversation that included warnings about dangerous wind conditions and fire risk, as Alle claims.
Alle rejected the campaign’s characterization, saying his concerns extended beyond a single neighborhood.
"I was worried about a fire in L.A. I had no idea my hometown would burn down," he said.
Excerpts from the call include the mayor referencing her travel schedule and indicating she would provide more details later.
Alle says he hasn’t spoken to the mayor since the Palisades fire.