L.A. Mayor Garcetti Says He Held His Breath For Maskless Photo With Magic Johnson

deadline.com:

Los Angeles Mayor — and Biden Administration ambassadorial nominee — Eric Garcetti today defended his actions after maskless photos surfaced of him and Lakers great Magic Johnson, along with San Francisco Mayor London Breed, at SoFi Stadium last weekend for the NFC Championship game.Johnson later tweeted a series of photos from the event featuring himself and a number of others in a luxury box overlooking the field.

They included Garcetti, Breed and California Governor Gavin Newsom. None of them are wearing masks in the photos, despite a local public health officer order requiring attendees to wear masks at all times during so-called outdoor “mega events,” except when “actively eating or drinking.” Johnson is in a high risk group for Covid, given his HIV status and age.Today, at an afternoon press conference to go over safety and security for next week’s Super Bowl, which is also to be held at SoFi, Garcetti said he held his breath to take the photo. “I’ll take personal responsibility,” said Garcetti in answer to a reporter’s question about the photos, “and if it makes you and everyone else happy — or even the photographs with people where literally I’m holding my breath for two seconds — I won’t even do that.”On Monday, a Garcetti spokesman told ABC7, “He was wearing a mask at the game and removed it for a brief moment to take a few photos.”Even so, Garcetti defended L.A.’s mask mandate because, he pointed out, the region is still experiencing a high rate of transmission.Los Angeles County Public Health officials issued repeated reminders over the past two weeks that masks must be worn at such mega events, even at outdoor gatherings.Hanging out at SoFi Stadium today!