Rodner Figueroa Fired For Remarks About Michelle Obama
Rodner Figueroa was fired by Univision due to the derogatory remarks he made about Michelle Obama at a popular talk show. The comments of the host were circulated through numerous social media networks.
The Emmy award-winning host of "El Gordo Y la Flaca" reportedly said that the First Lady of the United States appeared to be one of the cast members of "The Planet Of The Apes." He highlighted this by pointing at a picture of Michelle Obama. The comments were made during a segment about makeup transformations of Paolo Ballesteros, who transforms himself to have the same appearance as famous women celebrities.
An executive of Univision said that racist remarks had not place in the network. Figueroa also hosts "Sal Y Pimienta," another show on Univision.
Rodner Figueroa - image credit: msn.com
An open letter in Spanish was released by Rodner Figueroa on Thursday apologizing to the First Lady. The letter indicated that he came from a bi-racial family and he was not a racist. He added that he is the first openly gay host on Hispanic television. He said his comments were not about the First Lady but were about the transformations of a makeup artist who wanted to appear similar to Michelle Obama.
However, he also said that Michelle Obama was directly responsible for his dismissal from Univision. The host indicated he was told that the office of the First Lady lodged a complaint leading to his dismissal. He also accused executives of Univision for the deluge of information that resulted to his condemnation on social media.
Numerous criticisms against Rodner Figueroa were posted on Twitter and other social networks due to his comments.
Happy that @Univision dumped #rodnerfigueroa for his comments about #MichelleObama just waiting for @Colgate @OpticWhite to do the same
— Manny Gonzalez (@Mannyharlem) March 12, 2015
#RodnerFigueroa was wrong making those comments regarding the First Lady. As a black Latina, I am proud of @Univision for taking a stand.
— AJM (@ajm510) March 12, 2015
Posted by
James Fried
on Friday March 13 2015, 11:49 PM EDT.
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