UPDATE: March 13, 2015 at 11:07 a.m. EST
Rodner Figueroa, former Univision host, has written an open letterapologizing to First Lady Michelle Obama.
Our original story continues:
March 12, 2015
By Sheryl Estrada
Fashion critic Rodner Figueroa, a frequent contributor on Univision’s entertainment news show El Gordo y La Flaca, was fired for saying First Lady Michelle Obama “looked like she is part of the cast of Planet of the Apes” during a live segment of the show on Wednesday.
According to The Huffington Post:
Figueroa’s comment came while talking about makeup artist Paolo Ballesteros’viral undertaking of transforming himself into female celebrities.The fashionista, known for his critical Fashion Policestyle remarks, analyzed Ballesteros’ transformation for Michelle Obama with an original photo of the First Lady beside it.
His racist comment cost him his job, as confirmed today in an emailwritten by Iveliesse Malave, Vice President of Consumer and Entertainment Public Relationsat the Spanish-language network.
Another executive commented toPeople En Espaolthat Univision has no room for racism.
Lately, outlandish comments about the appearance of Black women seem to be popular material for TV. Last month, Guiliana Rancic, a host of E!’sFashion Police, made an offensive commentabout 18-year-old Black actress Zendaya Coleman’s dreadlocks, which she wore to the Academy Awards. Duringthe show’s annual debrief on the designer clothes, jewels and hairstyles of celebrities attending the awards show, Rancic critiqued Coleman’s hairstyle thusly:”I feel that she smells like patchouli oil or weed,” Rancic said. “Yeah, maybe weed.”
Coleman took to social media to express her displeasure, and Rancic received backlash from the public calling the comment racist. Rancic responded with an on-air apology, following co-host Kelly Osbourne’s threat to leave the show if the issue wasn’t resolved. Osbourne did decide to resign. However, Rancic did not lose her job.
On Tuesday, the Chicago Sun-Times released an email transcript of an interview with regular Fashion Police host Kathy Griffin. Asked if it would have been an issue had she made the comment instead of Rancic, Griffin responded, “Probably not. But I wouldn’t have said the joke in the first place. Some dude wrote it for her.” Griffin announced her departure fromthe show on Thursday, writing in a Twitter post, “I do not want to use my comedy to contribute to a culture of unattainable perfectionism and intolerance towards difference.”
It does not appear that Figueroa’s comment was scripted; rather, it was off-the-cuff.
Figueroa is known for giving celebrities fashion advice. He appeared on two other Univision shows: giving fashion tips on the world’s longest-airing TV variety show, Sabado Gigante, and winning a Daytime Emmy as co-host ofSal y Pimienta. He has yet to speak publicly about his comments.
