Talk Show Host Fired Over Racist Remarks About First Lady Michelle Obama

Talk Show Host Rodner Figueroa. Photo: Getty Images

A talk show host at Univision was fired on Wednesday following comments he made comparing First Lady Michelle Obama to a character from Planet of the Apes. Rodner Figueroa was appearing on popular TV show El Gordo y La Flaca, talking about an artist who is able to transform himself into any celebrity with the use of makeup. In response to the artist’s transformation into Obama, Figueroa said, “…and you know she, she looks like a character from Planet of the Apes!” The host of El Gordo y La Flaca, Raul de Molina, attempted to assuage the situation by responding that he found Mrs. Obama to be “a very attractive woman.”

The show ran edited on the West Coast and shortly thereafter it was announced that Figueroa was let go. The First Family has faced a myriad of racist comments since Barack Obama became president. Just last year, a Belgian magazine even went so far as to portray the two as monkeys on one of their covers, although nobody got fired, despite the worldwide outrage sparked by the image. Figueroa won an Emmy Award last year for Outstanding Daytime Talent in a Spanish Language Program. 


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