Jason Lee Removed as Stockton Vice Mayor Amid City Council Tensions

Tensions among leaders in Stockton, California, took a new turn Tuesday when the city council voted to remove Jason Lee as vice mayor.

The decision stripped Lee of a key leadership role, but did not remove him from his council seat. The Hollywood Unlocked founder will continue representing Council District 6 for the next two years.

The agenda for the Oct. 13 meeting said there would be a reconsideration of Lee’s vice mayoral appointment. He offered to step down from the position just before the council voted on the issue.

“I’m going to resign as the vice mayor and here’s the deal because the title doesn’t drive leadership,” Lee said.

But the proposal to accept his resignation failed. Instead, the council approved Mayor Christina Fugazi’s motion to remove him by a 4-2 vote, according to local news outlet Stocktonia.

Lee left the meeting before that vote, saying he needed to catch a flight to the East Coast. In a separate 6-1 vote, the council also removed him from the audit committee that oversees city’s finances.

Related: Jason Lee Cleared of Wrongdoing After Stockton ‘Wild ’N Out’ Investigation

The votes followed months of disagreements between the gossip blogger-turned-politician and other city officials over financial oversight, spending, transparency, and conduct at council meetings.

Lee responded Wednesday with a statement on Facebook.

“I’m still reflecting on last night,” he wrote. “I will have a formal response later this week.”

He urged residents to vote in the next election, adding: “The ONLY way to change this will be at the ballot box.”

Lee grew up in Stockton and was elected to the council in 2024. He will continue to serve as a councilmember through 2028.

Fugazi nominated him as vice mayor in January 2025, and the council approved the motion. His term in that role had been scheduled to end on Dec. 31, 2026, according to local media reports.

Tuesday’s meeting streamed on the City of Stockton’s YouTube Channel. Lee told his colleagues, “I will not apologize for fulfilling the responsibilities of this office.”

During the “citizens comment” portion, residents chimed in.

One woman praised Lee’s work in the community, saying his office provided toys to low-income children and haircuts for single mothers. She urged him to continue helping others despite the criticism.

“Jason, don’t let anybody break you down,” she said. “The community is with you and I see these people up here like a modern-day lynching, but we’re not going to be lynched.”

But another woman countered that Lee’s behavior was inappropriate for someone in a leadership position.

“Does he need to be removed as vice mayor? Absolutely,” she said. “He’s very vulgar, he’s very rude and if a kid did the things that he does online, they would be expelled or they would be suspended.”

An elderly African-American man noted that Lee is the only Black person on the council, but said he supported removing him as vice mayor. “I’ve never seen anybody disrupt the council as much as this man,” he said.

Lee and Fugazi frequently clashed at past meetings. In November 2025, Fugazi called for him to be investigated over alleged public attacks.

“Recent events and escalating rhetoric have made it necessary to reaffirm a simple truth: Stockton’s government must operate with integrity, transparency, and respect for the law,” the mayor’s office said in a statement to Urban Hollywood 411 at the time.

Lee previously faced allegations that he mishandled $50,000 in public funds connected to bringing a Wild ’N Out tour stop to Stockton. But an independent review cleared him of wrongdoing.

As Urban Hollywood 411 reported in January, the outside review determined  Lee did not violate state laws or the city charter in connection with the funding.

“The facts show that any personal interest was likely aligned with City interest,” the review concluded. “At most, the facts reflect a possible lack of awareness of the need to consider ethical standards even when one’s personal interests are aligned with official duties.”

Lee responded to the findings with a statement posted to Facebook on Jan. 9. He said he had been defamed for trying to bring a high-profile event to Stockton and “there will be consequences.”

Stockton is about 45 miles south of Sacramento in California’s Central Valley. The city has about 325,000 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The population is 46% Hispanic, 22% white, 21% Asian and 11% Black.

Lee campaigned on a platform calling for “transformative leadership and pragmatic solutions.”

He pledged to improve public safety, expand economic opportunities, invest in youth programs, and work toward bringing affordable housing to the community.