Univision Host apologizes to Michelle Obama for “Planet of the Apes” comment

Univision host Rodner Figueroa later apologized to Michelle Obama and asked for forgiveness after his contract was terminated with the Spanish language channel in US.

Just a day after being fired over his “Planet of the Apes” remark toward the first lady of the US Michelle Obama, former Univision host Rodner Figueroa has sent her an open letter. In the letter the former Univision host apologizes to the first lady and hitting at Univision for the way they handled the situation. HuffPost posted this letter.

In this long letter, Rodner Figueroa has addressed Michelle Obama directly and has also offered a formal apology. He has also tried to explain that his comment has been taken out of context and he did not mean to hurt anyone’s feelings.

Apart from this the former Univision host has also revealed that his dismissal from the channel is a direct result of a complaint by the first lady’s office to the network, reports TMZ. Rodner is also quite unhappy with his former channel as he thinks the channel humiliated him and did not handle the situation properly.

In his letter Rodner writes that he wants to clarify that he is not a racist as was supposed by the first lady and that in no way was his comment directed at the first lady. In the letter Rodner also briefs the first lady with a little information about his background and wrote that he was brought up in a biracial family.

Rodner also explained the first lady that he was one of the first openly gay television personalities on Hispanic television. Rodner also did not stop himself from telling the first lady that he has voted for President Barack Obama twice and he has nothing against her or her husband. 

This letter is basically a result of a segment by the fashionista on Univision’s entertainment show “El Gordo Y La Flaca” in which Rodner was analyzing some images of make-up artist Paolo Ballestero. These pictures included Ballestero transforming himself into numerous different female celebrities including the first lady, Michelle Obama.

Now while Rodner was reviewing the image of Ballestero transformed as Michelle Obama with a side by side image of the first lady, the host stated that Michelle Obama looks just like she’s part of the cast of the movie, the “Planet of the Apes”. This led the first lady’s office to term Rodner as a racist because this remark was considered as a racist remark. 

Rodner’s team stated that on Wednesday they were contacted by an executive from Univision who told them that the first lady, Michelle Obama’s office had called the network and complained about the remarks.

After Rodner was fired, the Miami based network Univision released a statement which states that the comments made by Rodner Figueroa regarding the first lady were completely his own and in no way reflects the values or views of the network.

Rodner Figueroa has also served as a fashion expert on Univision among his other roles. Let’s see whether the first lady accepts his apology or not!