Former councilman Gil Cedillo became embroiled in controversy when the Los Angeles Times obtained a taped conversation from October 2021, in which former City Council President Nury Martinez made racially disparaging remarks against Black people and Oaxacan immigrants living in Los Angeles. Cedillo, as well as Councilman Kevin de León and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor Head Ron Herrera, were also involved in the conversation.

Martinez and Herrera both resigned from their position swiftly following backlash to the tape. Cedillo, conversely, defied calls for his departure, serving out the rest of his term, which ended on Sunday. He had previously lost reelection to Eunisses Hernandez several months before the tape leaked. In a 1,000-word statement released the day after his term ended, Cedillo defended his decision, accusing his detractors of a “modern version of McCarthyism” and “cancel culture,” according to NBC Los Angeles.

“I refused to resign before my term ended,” Cedillo said. “That’s not who I am, and I did nothing that warranted it. My life’s work has been about fighting relentlessly for those who do not have a voice—regardless of their ethnic background… For all my critics’ calls for me to ‘do the right thing,’ I say unequivocally that NOT resigning was the right thing.

“It’s ‘cancel culture’ at its worst, and this kid from Boyle Heights never resigned.”

The conversation captured on the leaked tape concerned the city’s redistricting process. In it, Cedillo dismissed Black voters, saying “the 25 Blacks are shouting” to which de León responded, “But they shout like they’re 250.” Later, Cedillo did not intervene when Council President Martinez made insulting remarks about a former councilman’s Black son. The backlash against the tape eventually reached as far as the Biden White House, with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre calling the remarks “unacceptable” and “appalling.”

While defending his decision not to resign amid controversy, Cedillo did admit that the conversation “crossed a line” and apologized for not interrupting Martinez’s remarks.

“Conversations can also turn raw when people think they are speaking privately— which happened that day,” Cedillo said in his Monday statement. “No one denies that the conversation crossed a line at several points, and I deeply regret not speaking up when it did.”

Newsweek reached out to the Los Angeles City Council for comment.