Jason Lee tried to resign as Stockton’s vice mayor on Tuesday night. The city council refused to accept his resignation, then voted 4 to 2 to strip the title from him anyway.
Lee founded Hollywood Unlocked, one of the biggest Black celebrity news platforms online, before going home to Stockton and getting elected to the city council in 2024. The council picked him as vice mayor in January 2025, and the term was supposed to run through the end of 2026.
The removal was already sitting on Tuesday’s agenda after months of public fights between Lee and Mayor Christina Fugazi. Lee got ahead of it and offered to step down, telling the council the title does not drive leadership. The motion to accept his resignation failed 4 to 3. Fugazi then brought the removal motion herself, and it passed.
“The title doesn’t drive leadership.”
A separate 6 to 1 vote also took Lee off the Audit Committee, the panel that watches the city’s finances, with Lee casting the only no vote on that one. He had already left the room by then, saying he needed to catch a flight. He posted that he had resigned and was on his way to Harvard for a guest lecture, and on Wednesday he said he is still reflecting and will give a formal response later this week.
The bad blood did not start Tuesday. Lee was accused last year of mishandling 50,000 dollars in city money tied to a “Wild ‘N Out” event, and an independent review later cleared him of breaking state law or the city charter. This time the council pointed to city records raising questions about his role on the audit panel. Lee has asked the city attorney to put the legal authority for removing a sitting vice mayor in writing.
One thing Tuesday did not change: Lee keeps his council seat. He still represents District 6 through 2028. Only the title and the committee seat are gone.
See also: A Trump Supporter Punched a Woman in the Face at the Youngstown Rally and Trump Posted the Fatal Tiger Attack Video, Then an AI Video of Himself Wrestling the Same Tiger