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Just days before the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art opens to the public, co-founder Mellody Hobson has stepped down from the board of directors of Los Angeles Olympics organizing committee LA28, Variety has confirmed.
Hobson indicated that the demands of overseeing the Lucas Museum, which opens Tuesday after a Friday gala, were too great to continue serving on the board, according to an email reviewed by LAist. Business executive Hobson is co-founder of the museum with her husband George Lucas.
The 35-person board is led by Casey Wasserman, who was forced to give up his stake of his management company after the Epstein files revealed his messages with Ghislaine Maxwell.
An activist group called the Fair Games Coalition has sought to meet with Hobson over their concerns about the Olympics and Paralympics, including housing and workers’ needs. The coalition is also concerned about the games’ effect on the South Los Angeles area that is home to the Lucas Museum.
“The Fair Games Coalition is deeply disappointed that Mellody Hobson responded to requests to meet with faith leaders, workers and community members calling for living wages, affordable housing, immigrant protections, and Games that benefit all Angelenos by announcing she was resigning from the LA28 Board,” the group said in a statement.
“Mellody Hobson could have used her influence on the LA28 Board to stand with our communities, support living wages, and defend immigrant workers. Instead, she chose the easy way out. That is deeply disappointing,” Rev. Gary Williams, Senior Pastor of St. Mark United Methodist Church, a member of the Fair Games Coalition, said in the group’s statement.
