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Businessman and former NBA champion Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson speaks to the Fullerton crowd during Business Madness Week. | Photo by CSUF Photos (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
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Former Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson chimed in on the City Hall racism scandal this week, calling for Councilmen Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo to resign.
On Thursday, Johnson wrote on Twitter that it was time for the pair of embattled councilmen to step down.
The October 2021 conversation between de León, Cedillo, former Council President Nury Martinez and Ron Herrera, former president of the L.A. County Federation of Labor, included racist comments and discussions over favorable redistricting. Both Martinez and Herrera have resigned.
Johnson said, of de León and Cedillo: “You have been stripped of your assignments and aren’t allowed to attend meetings, LET THE CITY HEAL AND MOVE FORWARD! The people of Los Angeles voted you in the position, and now they are calling for you to resign.”
Both de León and Cedillo were removed from various committee assignments last week, leaving the vital Homelessness and Poverty, and Housing committees without chairs.
But both councilmen have so far defied the calls to resign. De León said earlier this week that he does not plan on stepping down, and a spokesman for Cedillo said Wednesday night that the councilman remains at “a place of reflection.”
Johnson joins a chorus of calls from around the country, including from President Joe Biden, for all involved in the meeting to resign.
