Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt have responded to the backlash they received for getting donations after losing their home in the Los Angeles fires.

Beginning last Tuesday, the Los Angeles area was struck by its worst windstorms in over a decade, fueling fires that have destroyed thousands of structures and claimed at least 27 lives, though the full death toll is not yet known.

One blaze in the ritzy Pacific Palisades consumed a number of celebrity homes, including Heidi and Spencer’s $2.5 million house in the neighborhood.

They fled the disaster area with their two young sons Gunner, six, and Ryker, two, leaving most of their personal belongings behind.

Although Heidi, 38, and Spencer, 41, did not solicit donations themselves, two of their TikTok friends created a GoFundMe for them – eliciting outrage from social media users who pointed out that many less privileged people had also lost their homes.

In reply to the blowback, Spencer insisted he and Heidi are ‘not rich,’ adding that no one was ‘required’ to give money to them and ‘it’s not a tax,’ via Us Weekly.

Spencer is pictured on Friday of last week in an Instagram pH๏τo he took in front of some of the ruins that were left by the fires ravaging Los Angeles

‘Speidi,’ as they are known to fans, first rose to fame as a reality TV couple on The Hills, which concluded its run on MTV in 2010.

Along with the over $134,000 they netted from the GoFundMe, they have also been earning money – Spencer, for example, has been selling his Pratt Daddy Crystals.

Read More Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag receive visit from an A-list music star with care package after losing home

Heidi’s fans meanwhile have been streaming her 2010 album Superficial so enthusiastically that her single single I’ll Do It reached number one on iTunes US.

She had a little bit of help from other celebrities, as her music was boosted on social media by Paris Hilton – who also lost a home to the fires – and Emily Ratajkowski. 

Spencer has taken a defiant stance to the backlash over the GoFundMe, saying: ‘We’re very used to negative things, so it’s pretty standard. If people want to send their own money to whoever they want, it’s the equivalent to buying a celebrity’s merch, buying their movie tickets.’

He added: ‘People can do whatever they want with their own money and, thank God, there’s people who want to support and send us whatever.’

Spencer noted: ‘Nobody’s required to, and it’s not a tax. People can say whatever they want and they’re enтιтled to their opinion. But, all the people that are messaging, they’re asking to send money, they’re asking to do the Amazon wishlist.’

He pointed out that it was his TikTok friends who ‘created a GoFundMe on their own and it just kept on doing great and so amazing. And then they transferred it over to us. We’re so thankful for them doing that and they set up the Amazon wishlist.’

Heidi and Spencer were also criticized for breaking down in tears while discussing the loss of their home this Wednesday on Good Morning America 

Spencer meanwhile shared: ‘The worst was like, sorry, our kids’ room is like so magical,’ adding: ‘We do storytime every night’

Heidi said she and Spencer were against soliciting money on a crowdfunding platform, but ‘our friends Brandon and Courtney were like: “We don’t care what you say. We know people who want to donate money to you and even if it’s one donation that’s going to help you.”‘

She iterated: ‘So, we had no expectation of anyone donating. I haven’t posted it, but we’ve had so many people wanting to give $5.’

Spencer pointed out many people donated small amounts like $5, which is ‘a coffee for somebody, so somebody bought us a coffee,’ though he added: ‘There’s some people that it’s a bigger number and I thanked every single person.’

Turning his attention to his ‘haters,’ he said: ‘Nobody thought we were rich celebrities until three days ago and it’s getting frustrating. Like if you Google “Spencer,” it literally [says]: “Broke, no net worth.”‘

He continued: ‘So now our house burns down, my parents’ house burns down [and] now we’re rich celebrities, which is infuriating because the media, respectfully, has never called us celebrities [and] never called us rich.’

Spencer maintained: ‘“There’s nobody with a brain [who] thinks we’re rich celebrities. It’s like these are just hater people trolling. The people [who] are supporting us and have been following our lifestyle on social media, they see we’re not rich celebrities.’

The fans, he said, ‘see what we do every day. We have been posting our life on Snapchat for the last 11 years, all day long. Our audience knows we’re not rich celebrities, they know we just eat Mexican food and we get organic eggs and they know we do it. We film everything.’

He shared: ‘We put all of our money into our house and our life to build something for our kids to put in their name and every detail we just kept on every year for the last eight years. Our house was 3,000 square feet. It is not a mansion in the Palisades.’ 

They fled the disaster area with their two young sons Gunner, six, and Ryker, two, leaving most of their personal belongings behind; the family are pictured last month

‘Speidi,’ as they are known to fans, first rose to fame as a reality TV couple on The Hills, which concluded its run on MTV in 2010; pictured 2019

Spencer wistfully recalled: ‘Everything was perfect from the stoves to the washing machines. That’s all we put our money into — and then we go and eat nice groceries at Erewhon. But our life was like: “Put our money into our house, eat clean groceries and that’s it.” We go on one trip a year to see Heidi’s parents in Colorado.’

He doubled down: ‘Any money we make from any TV opportunities or social media opportunities is just check to check. So the whole like: “Oh, Heidi and Spencer [are] these rich celebrities ask for money.” I wish I was a rich celebrity, I keep saying I’d be in Cabo right now eating tacos.’

Heidi and Spencer were also criticized for breaking down in tears while discussing the loss of their home this Wednesday on Good Morning America.

‘Spencer was like, “Grab anything you want to keep.” And I was like, “How do you choose?”‘ Heidi recalled in tears on the program.

‘Like, my brain actually stopped working because I was so overwhelmed with so many things you can’t replace. So I grabbed my kids’ teddy bears.’

She called her home ‘a refuge from the world and to have that be gone is a really difficult concept to continue to daily deal with.’ 

Spencer meanwhile shared: ‘The worst was like, sorry, our kids’ room is like so magical. We do storytime every night. It’s such our routine, so much love is in there.’ 

He added: ‘I feel like a ghost. I don’t have a single pH๏τo now before an iPhone existed. I don’t have any of the dumb little things that are on your shelves in your parents’ house. They’re all gone, not a single nothing.’