Burbank Mayor apologizes for mishandling drag queen spanking video backlash.
Burbank Mayor Apologizes for Controversial Video at City Council Meeting
A viral clip was taken during a drag queen bingo night hosted by the Santa Clarita Valley Democrats over the weekend and shared by the WiseNuts podcast and Libs of TikTok.
In the video, Mr. Anthony bends over a table and laughs while a drag queen spanks him. The clip was published on X, formerly known as Twitter, Sept. 10 by Libs of TikTok and had 2.4 million views by Wednesday.
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Mr. Anthony, who is also running for Los Angeles County supervisor, brushed off the controversy at Tuesday’s council meeting but later apologized for his “loss of decorum” in his responses to the public in the aftermath of the video going viral.
Although the event was advertised for anyone over the age of 15, Mr. Anthony reiterated on Tuesday only adults attended.
“Over the weekend, I attended a private adults-only event,” he said. “There were some shenanigans and some silly stuff happened. It was all fun and games.”
The mayor also said he was shocked at the public’s reaction to the event, calling Libs of TikTok a “prominent hate group.”
Several citizens criticized the mayor’s behavior, while city councilors condemned his reaction to social media and emails.
According to officials and residents, a recall effort has been launched to remove Mr. Anthony from office.
Resident Ben Sheffield called the behavior “disgraceful.”
“A flood of comments are being made, demanding Mr. Anthony resign from council,” Mr. Sheffield said. “A recall is already underway. Mr. Anthony, you are a disgrace and an embarrassment to the city of Burbank. Shame on you.”
Another speaker at the meeting, Scott Meyers was one of several who agreed.
“You, sir, have set another bad example in a long line of bad examples,” Mr. Meyers said. “The ‘spank seen around the world’ occurred with you bending over at a Democratic fundraiser, swatted by a man in nothing but lipstick and high heels, and a wig. This was unbefitting of a mayor, and you embarrassed your colleagues and everybody in this city, and in Southern California.”
But a few current and former residents spoke in support of the mayor.
“I am saddened by the immature lack of tolerance and behavior of fellow residents of the city of Burbank,” Chris Anderson said.
Councilors, however, encouraged residents who had emailed or called them to look into the recall process, which is the only way to remove a sitting councilor in Burbank.
Councilwoman Tamala Takahashi said she didn’t have a problem with the mayor participating in the fundraiser, or how he portrayed himself on social media, but he displayed bad judgment when handling complaints over the video.
“I’m aware of the longstanding pattern of provocativeness and performance that our current mayor exhibits as part of his activism and social media presence,” she said. “However, I do have strong feelings about how our work in the City of Burbank is conducted. To me, a line has been crossed.”
Councilwoman Zizette Mullins said she was disappointed the mayor didn’t apologize and asked for the issue to be put on a future agenda.
“I was hoping to hear an apology for what you put the City of Burbank, staff, and community through,” Ms. Mullins said. “It’s not fun watching our mayor bent over in that situation being televised on FOX News.”
After hearing from four councilors and the public, Mr. Anthony apologized for some of his responses to the public.
“I will say, there was a loss of decorum in my response,” Mr. Anthony said. “I’m not perfect … But I’m having a difficult time of it. I come from a very silly performance background. To me what is goofy and normal to other folks seems inappropriate. I need to learn that line and I need to learn when it is crossed and when to step back.”
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