Oscar winner torches Nithya Raman for ditching event she asked him to organize

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Another blow to Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman.

Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black not only pulled his endorsement for Raman and backed incumbent Karen Bass, he publicly called her out as a candidate who can’t be counted on to “show up.”

The “no-show” criticism stems from a campaign event Black says Raman failed to attend after personally asking him to host it.

“A Reception with Nithya Raman” was a campaign fundraiser hosted by the “Milk” screenwriter and his husband, Olympian Tom Daley. Scheduled for Oct. 16, Black alleged that Raman never showed.

Black posted a video Sunday to his Instagram account, which has nearly half a million followers, and bashed Raman. “One of the candidates showed up as she promised, and the other did not. And so I’m going to be voting for Karen Bass for mayor of Los Angeles,” he said in the video.

He explained that he re-evaluated his endorsement because the next four years are crucial for LA, especially under the promise and pressure of the 2028 Olympic Games.

“I’m a filmmaker, I’m a husband, and I’m a husband of an Olympian. I’ve been to Olympics that have gone real well and ones that haven’t gone so well,” Black said.

Attending Games with his husband, he said, showed him that hosting them well takes more than a big stage.

“If you’re going to put on a world-class games, you have to have the relationships with the people to pull it off, you got to understand the city, and you got to show up. And I want to show off Los Angeles in these Olympics,” the creator of “When We Rise” said.

Black spilled the beans further after actor and comedian Paul Scheer wrote in his video’s comments, “Just felt like she actively abandoned our industry during the strikes because she seemingly was afraid of upsetting her big dem donors who ran the streamers.”

Responding to Scheer, Black replied, “Raman was a no show to an event she personally reached out and asked us to hold for her. Her staff then lied about the reasons why she vanished—with no heads up.”

The “Mama’s Boy” author, who said he was once a supporter himself, added that conversations with former Raman backers convinced him it wasn’t a standalone incident, but rather “Raman’s way.”

“I too had been a supporter, but it turns out she is not a dependable politician,” he said. “Unfortunately. Not the kind of change that is going to help this city we both love, Paul.”

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