Spanish Language TV host sacked for stating that First Lady Michelle Obama looks like she is from the cast of ''The Planet of The Apes''

An Emmy-winning talk show host has been fired by Spanish-language TV station Univision after he compared the First Lady to a character from Planet Of The Apes on live television.

Rodner Figueroa, who's known for his biting fashion commentary, made the racially insensitive remark on the entertainment news show El Gordo Y La Flaca on Wednesday.

Venezuelan-born Figueroa made the remark in a segment discussing the work of make-up artist Paolo Ballesteros who posts photos of himself transformed into female celebrities.

Rodner Figueroa

 

Figueroa, 42, was talking about how Ballesteros had transformed himself into the First Lady when said: 'Well, watch out, you know that Michelle Obama looks like she's from the cast of Planet Of The Apes, the movie.' 

When hostess Lili Estefan countered with 'What are you saying?' and host Raul de Molina said Obama was very attractive, Figueroa defended his remark, saying 'but it is true.'

On Thursday he issued an open letter apology to Michelle Obama. In it he claimed his comments were taken out of context and that as a member of a 'bi-racial Latin family' he isn't a racist..

'I can't accept that I am being called a racist and being fired for that reason and being humiliated by Univision after working there for 17 years,' he said. 

'I come from a bi-racial Latin family, with family members, like my father, who is Afro-Latino. I am the first presenter on Hispanic TV that is openly gay and I am an activist for causes that favor minorities, that have been discriminated against just like me.