Olympic host cities make promises that are all but impossible to keep, and in recent years, the organizers’ wishful thinking about housing and neighborhood redevelopment has been one of the cruelest Olympic disappointments. As the 2024 Paris Games approach, we are seeing it all over again — displacement, gentrification and the unhoused “voluntarily” lured elsewhere with assurances of help that never materializes. What will it mean for Los Angeles, when the Games arrive in 2028?

In 2017, when Paris and Los Angeles were the last cities standing as potential Olympic sites — Boston, Budapest, Hamburg and Rome all withdrew — the organizers promised to stage Games that sidestepped the vexing social problems that emerged in Seoul, Rio, Tokyo and London.

Paris bidders vowed to rejuvenate the city’s banlieues, replenishing the housing stock by building an Olympic Village for the athletes in Seine-Saint-Denis, one of Paris’ poorest districts, and converting large swaths of it into so-called social housing. In Los Angeles, then-Mayor Eric Garcetti stated on late-night television, “I’m confident by the time the Olympics come, we can end homelessness on the streets of L.A.”

How has it worked in Paris?

In the lead up to the Games, French security officials are executing a “relocation plan” for the city’s migrants, refugees and unhoused people, expelling them from their encampments and squats — and from fragile connections to jobs and community — and escorting them onto buses that take them to 10 cities around France where temporary shelters and services have supposedly been organized. A government official told the New York Times the number was about 5,000. Human rights groups expect many more of the estimated 100,000 Parisians without steady housing to be exported as far from Olympic venues as possible.

Officially, the relocations are meant to lessen pressure on the asylum application process and to help migrants more efficiently apply for refugee status. But of course, this is all about optics. Most of those banished from Paris won’t qualify for permanent housing in their new locations, and as for asylum status, one lawyer in France calls the busing program “an antechamber to deportation.”

A recent report by a Parisian group whose name translates as the Other Side of the Medal documented a nearly 39% surge in encampment evictions in the City of Light in the year leading up to the Games, which open Friday. The researchers found that more than 12,500 people were displaced from Paris in 2023-24 alone. They have dubbed it “nettoyage social,” or social cleansing.

The French government has denied a connection between the Olympics and intensified displacement. But an email from a government official, first reported by the French newspaper L’Equipe, stated that the objective of the mass clearances was to “identify people on the street in sites near Olympic venues” and remove them before the Games commence. French National Assembly member Aurélie Trouvé told us that the program “is definitely connected to the Games and the need to offer a ‘clean,’ idealized image, even though it means that thousands of people are pushed afar.”

Trouvé’s district, Seine-Saint-Denis, north of the city center, is the Paris département most affected by the Games. It’s home to a new Aquatic Center and the Olympic Village — block after block of apartments and commercial space constructed on what was industrial land. But it remains to be seen whether it will help the 1.6 million residents of Seine-Saint-Denis, one-third of whom live below the poverty line, or simply push them aside. About 40% of the district lives in social housing; only a quarter of the Olympic Village units are earmarked for that population after the Games.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, the organizers of LA28 have steered clear of direct Games-associated urban renewal — no new venues will be built under LA28’s auspices and UCLA’s dorms and campus will become the Olympic Village.

And of course, Garcetti’s confidence about a homelessness cure is long forgotten. After Mayor Karen Bass checked out Paris’ preparations earlier this year, she told a reporter she was merely “hopeful” the Olympics would “be a catalyst to L.A. finally addressing homelessness in a way that is long-term, that eventually ends street homelessness.” She did offer this “major commitment”: The unhoused wouldn’t be moved to the hinterlands during the Games.

In December, a year into Bass’s Inside Safe program to address homelessness, just under 2,000 people had been helped off the streets and into hotel rooms. And in June, the city’s Homeless Services Authority announced that the latest point-in-time count found more than 75,000 unhoused residents in L.A. County, down a few ticks for the first time since 2018.

LA28 touts the legacy it will leave for the city and county but in a striking about-face from Garcetti’s optimism, Casey Wasserman, the chairman of the Los Angeles organizing committee, has relinquished all responsibility for helping to reduce homelessness. He told LAist’s Larry Mantle in 2021, “We’re not responsible for solving homelessness. We’re responsible for delivering the Olympic Games as a private enterprise in 2028.”

Wasserman is only being honest. The Olympics can’t solve gentrification, the affordable housing crisis or the needs of the unhoused. That’s not what the Games are created to do. Promises made otherwise should be seen as public relations. That hosting the Olympics may even make matters worse is one reason so many cities were happy to leave the job to Paris and L.A. for 2024 and 2028.

In a few weeks, the hoopla and the tally of gold, silver and bronze medals at the Summer Games will give way to a much more consequential reckoning: Paris’ winners and losers. It seems likely its most vulnerable residents won’t have fared well. Los Angeles should take heed.

Jules Boykoff, a former professional soccer player, is a political science professor at Pacific University in Oregon. He has written six books on the Olympics. Dave Zirin is the sports editor of the Nation and the author of 11 books on the politics of sport.

Speculation is mounting that President Biden will pardon his son, Hunter Biden, who was recently found guilty in a federal gun trial, despite the president and his staffers saying he will not give the first son a pass amid his legal troubles. 

“I’ve been very clear; the president is not going to pardon his son,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in December. Biden, himself, addressed the issue last month, telling ABC News that he ruled out pardoning his son and answering in the affirmative that he would accept the jury’s verdict in the case. 

The administration assured Fox News Digital on Tuesday that the president’s comments stood in regard to Hunter Biden’s pardon. However, the credibility of those press aides is in doubt after weeks of denying Biden was considering quitting the 2024 campaign. Biden ultimately bowed out of the race on Sunday afternoon in a social media post.

“The president spoke to this in his ABC interview. His comments stand,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates told Fox Digital on Tuesday when asked about any plans to pardon Hunter Biden.

HUNTER BIDEN FOUND GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS IN GUN TRIAL

Republicans have speculated the president will pardon his son, with Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz saying the odds of Biden pardoning Hunter sit at 100%. 

“I’m going to place the odds that Joe Biden pardons Hunter Biden at 100%. Hunter Biden will get a pardon as a result of this decision,” Cruz said during his podcast, “Verdict with Ted Cruz,” on Monday, referring to Biden’s decision this week to drop out of the presidential race. 

HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL ENTERS DAY 5 AFTER TESTIMONY FROM SISTER-IN-LAW-TURNED-GIRLFRIEND: ‘PANICKED’

“It will not happen till after Election Day. He’s not going to do it before Election Day. But he’s going to stick around. And after Election Day, I believe it is now 100% that Joe Biden will pardon Hunter,” he added. 

Hunter Biden was convicted by a federal jury on June 11 of lying about his drug use when purchasing a firearm in 2018. He was found guilty on three charges: making a false statement in the purchase of a gun, making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federally licensed gun dealer, and possession of a gun by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.

Hunter Biden had pleaded not guilty in the case. 

Hunter Biden was found guilty on all counts by a Delaware jury. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum/File)

Prosecutors worked to prove that Hunter Biden lied on a federal firearm form, known as ATF Form 4473, in October 2018, when he ticked the “No” box when asked if he is an unlawful user of substances or addicted to controlled substances. 

Hunter Biden has a long history of drug abuse, which was underscored in his 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things.” The book was repeatedly referenced by both prosecutors and Biden’s defense team amid the nearly seven-day trial. The memoir walks readers through Biden’s highs and lows with addiction to crack cocaine and attempts to get sober. 

Hunter Biden’s attorneys did not deny the first son’s long history with substance abuse during the trial, instead arguing that on the day Biden bought the Cobra Colt .38, he did not consider himself an active drug addict.

BIDEN WILL ADDRESS NATION FROM OVAL OFFICE ON DECISION TO EXIT 2024 RACE

Hunter Biden has not yet been sentenced in the case.

President Biden bowed out of the presidential election on Sunday afternoon in a letter posted to X. The White House and campaign had for weeks denied Biden would withdraw from the race, claiming he was in the election to win his rematch against former President Trump. 

Biden was self-isolating in Delaware after a COVID-19 diagnosis when he announced he would no longer seek a second term. He returned to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday after testing negative for the virus. 

In the wake of his departure from the race, others speculated on social media that Biden will likely pardon Hunter Biden. 

DOJ REVEALS IT HAS BIDEN TRANSCRIPTS AT ISSUE IN CLASSIFIED DOCS CASE AFTER INITIAL DENIAL

The gun trial was the first Hunter Biden faced this year. He is scheduled to stand trial in California in September over nine federal tax charges. The case was brought forth by special counsel David Weiss, who also oversaw the gun trial.

Barely a month ago, a veritable who’s who of Hollywood A-listers turned out for President Joe Biden. The event, organized by former DreamWorks Animation Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, drew George Clooney, Barbra Streisand and Julia Roberts.

Jimmy Kimmel moderated an interview with Biden and former President Barack Obama at the gathering in downtown Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater. Sheryl Lee Ralph sang and Jack Black entertained the star-studded crowd wearing a pair of American flag overalls.

The evening raised more than $30 million, the largest one-night campaign haul in Democratic history.

But behind the fawning praise and laughs, cracks began to appear in the public façade.

Some of the most powerful members of Hollywood, who had steadfastly supported the president, harbored some serious reservations about the 81-year-old’s mental acuity.

At times during the event, Biden’s answers meandered and Obama occasionally jumped in to redirect the conversation.

Then came Biden’s disastrous debate performance. And those very same industry stalwarts who had just feted Biden began saying he should not seek reelection.

“Lost” co-creator Damon Lindelof, who attended the fundraiser, was one of the first to publicly call for Biden to step aside. “Biden has to go & the Dems need to wake up,” he wrote in a column for Deadline, adding that donors should withhold checks until he did so. Within days others followed suit. Netflix co-founder and major Democratic donor Reed Hastings also called on Biden to end his reelection bid.

The most damaging blow came a week later, when Clooney wrote a blistering Op-Ed for the New York Times, saying, “The Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”

Clooney’s public excoriation proved to be a tipping point, creating a public relations disaster for the Biden campaign, said a confidant close to a senior Democratic leader who was not authorized to speak publicly. Soon others — including actor-filmmaker Rob Reiner — began airing similar sentiments, contributing to the pressure that culminated in the incumbent president’s extraordinary decision to drop out as the Democratic nominee.

The remarkable turn of events underlined the outsize role that Hollywood — long known as the “ATM of the Democratic Party” — plays in political campaigns and the money that fuels them.

“In the world of politics, money is what drives these things, and the fact that many in Hollywood closed up their checkbooks had a very big impact,” said Steve Caplan, adjunct instructor of public relations and advertising at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

Now, entertainment heavyweights are putting their money behind Vice President Kamala Harris’ White House campaign. Hastings contributed $7 million to a super PAC supporting Harris, the largest donation that he has made to a single candidate, said a person close to the Netflix co-founder who was not authorized to comment. The Information first reported the donation.

“We are all in for Kamala and have been since the moment she announced,” said Andy Spahn, a Los Angeles political consultant to media moguls such as Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg. “Tremendous excitement and energy here around Kamala’s candidacy. We are all in.”

Unease over Biden’s gaffes

For months, Biden’s gaffes and stumbles became hard to ignore. He fell walking up the stairs to Air Force One; he mixed up Syria and Libya at a news conference and called Kamala Harris “Vice President Trump.”

While allies and critics alike began commenting, the campaign dismissed their concerns as isolated incidents; Biden described his debate performance as a “bad night.”

As momentum for Biden sputtered and his failings became more publicly evident, some supporters vented their frustration toward Katzenberg, one of the campaign’s co-chairs, who assured them Biden was on his game, even calling his age his “superpower.”

Katzenberg took to making comparisons to Harrison Ford starring in a new Indiana Jones movie at 80 and Mick Jagger performing on tour with the Rolling Stones, also while turning 80, the Wall Street Journal first reported.

Katzenberg declined to comment.

But Biden’s lackluster approval ratings and an unmistakable enthusiasm gap continued apace, particularly among celebrities, who were not jumping on to endorse the campaign.

Even before the debate, it was difficult to get industry players to publicly back Biden, according to someone who works closely with celebrity surrogates and was not authorized to speak publicly.

“There was a general lack of enthusiasm. Some wanted to bury their heads in the sand, and there was a legitimate group of people who felt that there was a value misalignment with what was happening in the Middle East and a larger group that did not see the benefit in speaking out,” said this individual. “It was extremely difficult, even with stalwarts.”

While Clooney and others had taken public stands, this person said there were a number of private conversations going on between about 40 prominent artists and the campaign’s leadership.

John Legend, the Grammy-winning singer, shared the concerns about Biden’s viability in an interview.

“There would be a lot of challenges to overcome if we stayed with Biden and to defeat Trump with him as our nominee,” Legend told The Times. “For months the American people were telling us that they didn’t like either choice.”

Within days of each other, Disney heir Abigail Disney and billionaire media mogul Barry Diller said they were halting any further financial support to the Biden campaign.

Speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Endeavor chief Ari Emanuel took Biden’s advisers to task for their lack of candor about his health and criticized the president for backtracking on his pledge to pass the baton after one term.

“I had a father who died at 92, but at 81 I took away his car, and it was a very simple test for me,” said Emanuel, whose brother Rahm Emanuel served as Obama’s White House chief of staff. “If you were driving from downtown Beverly Hills to Malibu, would you want Biden to do it at night?”

A dramatic shift toward Harris

On Sunday, Biden announced he would not carry on as the Democratic nominee and endorsed Harris.

It was as if the tide turned — at least in Hollywood.

“Oh God. People, and I mean this sincerely, people are giddy. They are not just happy, they are giddy,” said Donna Bojarsky, a longtime Democratic political consultant and co-founder of a nonprofit dedicated to building civic engagement in L.A. “I haven’t seen this much excitement since Barack Obama or Joe Biden’s [2020] election. … And only now are we realizing how incredibly difficult and depressing this previous situation was. Now, it’s as if an anvil has been lifted off.”

Within 24 hours, a growing list of marquee names from movies, TV, fashion, music and media including Jamie Lee Curtis, Spike Lee, Questlove and Ariana Grande signaled their support for Harris, who is widely expected to take over as her party’s presidential nominee. Beyoncé gave Harris permission to use her song “Freedom” for her presidential campaign.

“There is an increased excitement — the feeing is palpable,” said Legend. “There is an optimism that people are feeling now that they were not feeling before that we can ride this moment to victory.”

Many of those who had blasted Biden and his advisors are now galvanized around Harris, whose husband, Doug Emhoff, is a prominent Los Angeles entertainment attorney.

At the top of the list was Clooney, who in a statement to CNN praised Biden for exhibiting “true leadership,” adding, “We’re all so excited to do whatever we can to support Vice President Harris in her historic quest.”

“An election that was previously characterized by dread and grim resignation is now characterized by the excitement of possibility,” Lindelof wrote in an email to The Times, adding that he has been a “huge fan” of Harris since she first ran for California attorney general in 2010. “I have yet to speak to a single person who hasn’t been deeply impressed by everything she has said … during this emotionally intense and complicated time. We’re wildly inspired by this potential ticket and we’ll give accordingly.’

As the praise and endorsements rolled in, so has the money.

Spahn, the political consultant, noted that Harris raised $81 million in the first 24 hours after Biden announced he would not seek reelection, a record-breaking haul. “More to come,” Spahn said.

Diller told The Times that he and his wife, fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, plan to give “the maximum” allowed under federal law to the new Democratic presidential nominee.

“I think it was inevitable,” he said of Biden stepping down, noting that his preferred Democratic candidate is Harris, calling her “qualified and competent.”

And Hollywood is gearing up for another glitzy star-studded fundraiser, likely to happen before the Democratic National Convention next month in Chicago, according to two individuals with knowledge of the event.

“The last 24 hours have been a lot of excitement — sign me up, where can I contribute, how do I get involved?” said Wendy Greuel, a former Los Angeles city controller who worked in President Bill Clinton’s administration and for the entertainment firm of DreamWorks SKG. “Whether it’s the entertainment industry, whether it’s activists, it has been a shot in the arm for people to engage or reengage.”

She added that Democrats were boosted by the fact a decision had been made and there is a goal to pursue.

“The sense of limbo was challenging,” Greuel said. “The excitement is we have a plan. We have a mission to defeat Donald Trump and we’re behind Vice President Kamala Harris for president of the United States. It’s a shot in the arm. People appreciate this is the pathway to have a Democratic nominee and everyone is rowing in the same direction.”

Times Staff writer Wendy Lee contributed to this report.