Nury Martinez’s ‘little Latina girls’ line in resignation letter backfires: ‘Girl WHAT?’
Nury Martinez’s Los Angeles City Council resignation letter did not go over well on social media.
Actor Melinna Bobadilla, writer Myriam Gurba and TV host Areva Martin were among many Twitter users who criticized Martinez’s announcement — particularly the part where the disgraced politician addressed “all little Latina girls across the city” and said, “I hope I’ve inspired you to dream beyond that which you can see.”
“Girl WHAT? Cómo crees?” Bobadilla tweeted on Wednesday. “You are not # goals or inspo; you are a cautionary tale of power hungry girl-bossery gone awry. This is an example of narcissism & gaslighting BYE.”
The “Little America” and “Gentefied” star was among the Angelenos who pushed for Martinez’s resignation this week after an audio recording of the former L.A. City Council president making racist and crude remarks about Black people, Oaxacans, Jewish people and Armenians was leaked to the public.
Bobadilla also called for the resignations of Councilmembers Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León, who participated in the taped conversation without challenging Martinez’s offensive statements.
“Seeing a few folks tweet some weirdo word fluff to try & downplay the behavior of Nury Martinez, Gil Cedillo & Kevin de León,” Bobadilla tweeted on Wednesday. “It’s not that complicated. IDGAF if they’re Latines or how many highspanic galas you’ve been to with them, they’re corrupt & they need to RESIGN NOW.”
“Looking at you CA elected officials who’ve maybe stayed quiet bc U endorsed Cedillo over [Eunisses] Hernandez or say, were photographed with KdL this weekend?” she added. “Silence & half stepping for political currency = tacitly supporting anti-Black/anti-Indigenous racism, gerrymandering & corruption.”
Following a swift and sharp backlash, Martinez apologized and stepped down as L.A. City Council president, but that wasn’t enough for the political leaders and community members hurt and outraged by her comments — many of whom showed up to demand Martinez’s full resignation at a City Hall meeting on Tuesday. Martinez finally resigned her council seat on Wednesday.
“It is with a broken heart that I resign my seat for Council District 6,” Nury Martinez wrote in a statement.
“To all little Latina girls across this city, don’t grow up to be like Nury Martinez,” tweeted Gurba, author of “Mean” and “Letter to a Bigot.”
“Sorry, #NuryMartinez is delusional,” tweeted Martin, a CNN legal analyst and host of “The Special Report.” “In her resignation letter, she says ‘And [to] all little Latina girls across this city — I hope I’ve inspired you to dream beyond that which you can see,’ ... What about I am sorry that I let girls [and] boys down by my bigotry and narcissism!”
In another tweet, author and former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs wrote, “Imagine being forced to resign for being a bigot and ending with, ‘I hope I inspired Latina girls.’ Huh? Not an apology? Not sorry to the little boy I hurt or the communities I harmed? Nada. Just vibes and hope y’all follow my footsteps. Basura.”
Comedian Emily Heller joked that Martinez’s farewell message would be “very moving if you’re a kid dreaming of one day resigning in disgrace, embroiled in racist scandal,” while cookbook author Adrianna Guevara Adarme tweeted, “‘to all the little Latina girls’ GIRL, BYE.”
Read Martinez’s full resignation statement here.
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