Geishas & Really Bad Accents: This Taxpayer-Funded Video Has Infuriated People

The City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works is in hot water for using taxpayer money to produce what some call an extremely offensive promotional video, CBS Los Angles reports.

How offensive? See for yourself:

Yes, the video, filmed at the Japanese Garden at the Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys, features a grown man with a painfully fake Asian accent dressed as a Geisha.

“The short was apparently meant to teach viewers about recycled water, which is what they use at the Japanese Garden,” the CBS report notes.

While it’s one thing to produce a video some find upsetting, it’s another to do it with taxpayer money.

“The video is part of a program called L.A. CityWorks, which airs on the city-owned Channel 35,” the report continues. “They also have a YouTube channel where Goldstein found more than a dozen other unusual videos, with stories like the ‘History of Trash’ and ‘L.A. CityWorks Rap.'”

“The Department of Public Works funds the projects, spending about $48,000 a year in taxpayer dollars,” it adds.

Shortly after the video was discovered by certain offended parties, the city yanked it.

Cora Jackson-Fossett, a spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Public Works, apologized for the video

“We apologize profusely that we missed the mark totally. We made a mistake. We’re extremely sorry. It was an attempt at humor that failed,” she said.

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(H/T: Mediaite). Featured image screen grab.