A year after the leak of a racist conversation involving City Council members caused furor and one of the biggest political scandals of recent years in Los Angeles politics, former Councilman Gil Cedillo is speaking out.
Cedillo, who resisted widespread calls for his resignation over his participation in the 2021 conversation, broke his silence in an exclusive and defiant interview with Telemundo Noticias. Cedillo lost his subsequent reelection bid -- months before the leak -- but the now-former councilman insists he did not make racist remarks.
“I didn’t say anything racist. How can you say I was part of a racist conversation? Where’s the racism? Where’s the N-word? There’s no racism,” Cedillo told Telemundo in reference to the conversation between himself, fellow council members Kevin de León and Nury Martinez – who has since resigned – and Ron Herrera, head of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.
The former councilman framed the talk as one that included “jokes” in which people used “words that I don’t use, but I’m not the police to cut off every conversation that’s not right.”
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If there are people who have been offended, I want to say I’m sorry. But really, these conversations were like every conversation that exists daily between people.
Gil Cedillo, former Los Angeles City Councilmember
“If there are people who have been offended, I want to say I’m sorry. But really, these conversations were like every conversation that exists daily between people. We’re not like little kids who say, ‘Oh, that’s a bad word. Oh, mom, look, this guy’s saying this.’ It’s not a reality that people live,” he argued.
In the leaked tapes, Cedillo dismissed Black voters by saying “the 25 Blacks are shouting,” to which de León responded, “But they shout like they're 250.'' Cedillo did not intervene when Martinez made a racist comment directed at the Black son of former Councilman Mike Bonin, calling him “changuito,” which translates to “little monkey.”
Cedillo, however, defended himself and his ex-colleagues, including Martinez’s use of “changuito,” arguing the term was offensive but not racist, and that people’s actions matter more than their words. If the word were racist, he added, “millions and millions” of Latinos would be considered racist.
“There was no racism. There were offensive words by others, and I accept that. But there was no racism. Words are important, but actions are more important,” Cedillo said.
In the leaked audio recording, Martinez also mocked Indigenous Mexican immigrants of Oaxacan descent living in Los Angeles’ Koreatown, calling them “short, dark people.” “I don’t know where these people are from. I don’t know what village they came [from], how they got here. ... Tan feos [they’re ugly],” she said.
In his recent interview, Cedillo pointed to what he called his own short stature and dark skin, and claimed that a Oaxacan “leader” told him Oaxacans know how to take a joke.
Since the leak, Martinez resigned her seat on the council and her position as council president. Cedillo lost his 2022 reelection bid but controversially refused to step down before his term was up. De León is the only one still on the council, expressing regret for not intervening during the conversation and ignoring ongoing calls for his own resignation.
Cedillo said he is still friends with, and occasionally speaks to, his former colleagues. Pete Brown, de León’s spokesperson, told NBC4 that the councilman and Cedillo are still in contact and see each other at community events, maintaining a friendship that “goes back a long ways.”
Cedillo also insists that the entire controversy was part of a plot to oust him. He said he has spent the last year reflecting on the situation and wants to move forward.
“We need to move forward. I want my life,” he said. “I want to use my talents. God has given me an opportunity to help a lot of people, and I’m a person of service. It’s the truth.”
Lee esta historia en español aquí.
