LOS ANGELES — Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and other California leaders are facing criticism after they were photographed Sunday without face masks at the NFC Championship game at Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium.
“Hanging out at SoFi Stadium today!” former Laker Earvin “Magic” Johnson wrote in a tweet showcasing the maskless celebs, who included San Francisco Mayor London Breed and actor Rob Lowe, among others.
The group was attending the game that saw the Los Angeles Rams defeat the San Francisco 49ers and advance to the Super Bowl.
The post was met with swift backlash from commenters noting that California’s universal mask mandate requires residents to wear face masks in all indoor public spaces and outdoor “mega-events” with 5,000 or more people, regardless of vaccine status. Earlier this month, state officials extended the mask mandate through Feb. 15 amid surging cases of COVID-19.
Los Angeles County also requires all people attending large indoor and outdoor events to wear face masks, except when eating and drinking, as does SoFi Stadium.
“Masks can only be removed to actively eat or drink, after which they must be immediately put back on,” the stadium’s mask policy states.
A representative for Breed did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Garcetti spokesman Alex Comisar said the mayor wore a mask during the game “and removed it for a brief moment to take a few photos.”
Erin Mellon, communications director for Newsom, said the governor “acknowledged that he took off his mask for a few moments during Sunday’s game.”
“He continues to encourage all Californians to do their part to get through the pandemic and this latest surge, including wearing a mask and getting vaccinated,” Mellon said.
During a news conference in Los Angeles on Monday, Newsom similarly stated that he was “very judicious” at the game and that he removed his mask to take the photo, but kept it in his left hand.
“The rest of the time I wore it, as we all should,” he said, adding that he was “trying to be gracious and took the mask off for a brief second.”
“I encourage people to continue to wear them,” he added.
Thousands of people at the game were not wearing face masks, according to images captured by the L.A. Rams “FanCam.” Newsom was captured in one shot with a face mask dangling from his ear; however, two additional images showed him wearing his face mask while seated at the game.
State Sen. Melissa Melendez, a Lake Elsinore Republican, was among those who expressed concern about the Twitter photos.
“Toddlers are being forced to wear masks all day long in school,” she wrote on Twitter. “Maybe one day they’ll be governor or the mayor of LA and they won’t have the follow the rules they impose on others.”
Others called it an example of “rules for thee, but not for me.”
Newsom and Breed have previously come under fire for appearing to flout face mask mandates, with Breed in September defending herself after being caught on video without a face mask in a San Francisco jazz bar and nightclub.
In November 2020, now-infamous pictures surfaced of Newsom without a face mask at a dinner party at the French Laundry restaurant in Napa. The governor later apologized.
Some commenters noted that the group appears to be in a private, open-air suite at the stadium. Others pointed out that several people, including Garcetti, are holding their masks in their hands, indicating they removed the face covering for the photos. But many said that does not excuse the lack of masks.
“The very definition of hypocrisy,” one person wrote in response to Johnson’s tweet.
The L.A. County Department of Public Health confirmed via email that “all persons attending indoor and outdoor mega events are required to wear masks, regardless of vaccination status, except while actively eating and drinking.”
“We appreciate efforts made at the venues to remind spectators of the requirement and ask that attendees take responsibility for protecting each other during the surge by keeping their masks on unless actively eating or drinking,” department officials said.
Officials at So Fi Stadium, which will host the Super Bowl on Feb. 13, said last week that all spectators watching the game will be given KN95 masks upon arrival.
