#MeToo: West Hollywood Mayor Who Honored Stormy Daniels Faces Calls to Resign over Sexual Harassment Claims

Stormy Daniels and John Duran (Ringo H.W. Chiu / Associated Press)
Ringo H.W. Chiu / Associated Press

John Duran, the mayor of West Hollywood, California, is facing calls for his resignation over new allegations of sexual harassment.

Last year, Duran honored porn star Stormy Daniels (née Stephanie Clifford) with the key to the city and declared “Stormy Daniels Day” for her role in public criticism of President Donald Trump.

But as Breitbart News reported, Duran had faced sexual controversies of his own under his administration, with the city shelling out $500,000 in a settlement with a former mayoral aide on his behalf in 2016.

Now, new allegations have emerged, the Los Angeles Times reports (original links):

[A]mid new allegations of sexual harassment against Duran by members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, some West Hollywood residents and politicians are saying enough is enough and that times have changed. Three of the city’s five council members have called on Duran to resign, saying he has become a distraction.

Protesters are planning to converge on the City Council meeting Tuesday to call for Duran’s ouster and call for action in another scandal: the recent deaths of two gay black men in the West Hollywood apartment of Ed Buck, a white, wealthy Democratic donor and LGBTQ activist. For several years, Duran worked as an attorney for Buck.

Duran, 59, has refused to step down, describing himself as a proudly sensual gay man who lived through a sexual revolution colliding against a prudish #MeToo movement that’s too quick to judge. Bawdiness is just part of who he’s always been, Duran said, and he’s not going to change now.

“There’s a culture clash going on,” the mayor said. “If somebody expresses himself or herself sexually, that doesn’t make it harassment, per se.”

At the ceremony honoring Stormy Daniels, Breitbart News captured a local resident on video protesting against Mayor Duran, saying: “This is so ridiculous. It’s completely hypocritical. The mayor who is giving this to her has silenced people who have filed sexual harassment lawsuits against him.”

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

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