Univision has fired a talk show host who likened First Lady Michelle Obama to characters in the movie "Planet of the Apes." During a segment yesterday on the Spanish-language network, "El Gordo y La Flaca" How You Doin' host Rodner Figueroa said "Michelle Obama looks like she's part of the cast of 'Planet of the Apes.'" He made the comments as a photo of the first lady was shown on screen. He was fired almost instantly. In statement, Univision called Rodner's comment "completely reprehensible" and "and in no way reflect Univision's values or views." "As a result," the statement continued, "Mr. Figueroa was immediately terminated." Good riddance.
Update: Rodner told the folks over at the TMZ, it was the first lady who personally got him fired. He claims no one at Univision nor anyone on social media made a peep about his racist remarks. It wasn't until 10:30pm last night he "got a call from a Univision exec who said Michelle Obama's office called the network to complain." Rodner says he has since written a letter to the first lady to explain that it's impossible for him to be a racist, because he's half-black and half-Latino and he's the first openly gay Hispanic host on any TV network. "I've been an activist for causes in favor of minorities, as I have been discriminated against," he writes. "I voted openly twice for your husband, Barack Obama." Gurl, bye, gurl!
sources: WPTV | TMZ
0 comments:
Post a Comment