Controversy over a comedian performing a stand-up routine at an event attended by deputies and staff members from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. A routine, people there said, was filled with racist and sexually explicit humor. Kim Baldonado reports for the NBC4 News at 11 p.m. on July 24 2013
A stand-up comedy routine at a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s luncheon that some found racist and sexually offensive prompted a review of the act by the law enforcement agency, officials said.
Edwin San Juan, a Filipino American comedian, did stand-up in front of some 600 deputies and their spouses at the Sheriff's Day Luncheon on Wednesday at the Quiet Cannon banquet hall in Montebello.
San Juan is known for his observational humor and for poking fun at ethnic stereotypes.
Sheriff Lee Baca, who posed with San Juan for a photo after the event and gave him a plaque, knew when the routine started that some might be offended and he apologized, said sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore.
“The Sheriff extends any apology to anybody who may have been offended,” Whitmore said.
San Juan did not respond to messages seeking comment.
In a YouTube video promoting an Asian-themed comedy show with other Asian performers, San Juan explained his bold approach to comedy about race.
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“The way of the past is … that’s bad, that’s bad,” he said. “But what we do now in our generation is we take negative things and flip it and we make it positive.”
The annual luncheon was sponsored by the Peace Officers Association of Los Angeles County, a non-profit group made up of law enforcement officers at the local, county, state, and federal levels.
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