A quiet scene unfolded within the walls of Getty House, Los Angeles’s official mayoral residence: a comfortable conversation between Mayor Karen Bass and podcast host Matt Welch. They discussed a range of topics, from national politics to local schools, seemingly concluding an hour-long interview with handshakes and applause.
But the recording didn’t stop there. In the moments following the formal interview, a startling admission slipped out. Bass, speaking candidly, delivered a damning assessment of the city’s response to the Palisades and Eaton fires, stating plainly, “Both sides botched it.”
Her critique was particularly pointed regarding the Eaton fire, highlighting a critical failure: the lack of evacuation alerts in west Altadena, a lapse that contributed to all but one of the nineteen fatalities. “They didn’t tell people they were on fire,” she revealed, a chilling indictment of the emergency response.
This candid four-minute segment, initially included in the full video posted to Welch’s podcast channel, has now vanished. The video has been replaced with a shorter version, meticulously edited to remove Bass’s unscripted remarks, leaving a void of crucial information.
The circumstances surrounding the deletion are shrouded in mystery. Welch, when questioned, has refused to comment, offering no explanation for the missing audio or whether the mayor’s office requested the edit. His silence has only deepened the intrigue and fueled speculation.
The implications are significant. The response to the fires was widely criticized, and the slow pace of rebuilding remains a visible scar on the city. Bass’s admission, however blunt, offered a rare moment of accountability, a glimpse behind the carefully constructed narrative.
Now, that moment is gone, scrubbed from the public record. The question lingers: who made the decision to remove the audio, and what were their motives? The residents of Los Angeles, particularly those who suffered loss and displacement, deserve a full and transparent accounting.
The missing audio raises a troubling question about the integrity of the interview and the willingness to present uncomfortable truths. Was pressure applied to conceal Bass’s candid assessment? The silence from both the mayor’s office and the podcast host only amplifies the concerns.
The lack of rebuilding in affected areas already speaks volumes about the aftermath of the fires. Removing this admission feels like another layer of obfuscation, a deliberate attempt to control the narrative and shield those responsible from scrutiny.
