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Rodeo announcer rebuked for off-color Obama joke

Ann Romney and  Michelle Obama
Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, left and US First Lady Michelle Obama Getty Images

(CBS News) A small-town rodeo is attracting some national attention as the event's announcer made a joke over the PA system that has offended some. The announcer at a local rodeo in San Luis Obispo County, Calif., is coming under fire for a joke about First Lady Michelle Obama, which some said was racist.

"Playboy is offering Ann Romney $250,000 to pose in the magazine, and the White House is upset about it because National Geographic only offered Michelle Obama $50 to pose for them," the San Luis Obispo Tribune reported how audience member Dona Wilson recounted the joke.

At least one member of the Creston Classic Rodeo has called on the announcer, Ed Kutz, to apologize.

"I can't speak for the board, but I myself think that this is unacceptable behavior or conduct by the announcer," said Mike Barrett in The Tribune. "I find it offensive, and I think that it's conduct unbecoming the rodeo announcer."

According to the rodeo's website, Creston is a small town on the Central California coast. The annual rodeo attracts cowboys and cowgirls from around California to compete in the three-day event "that carries on the tradition of the hard-working pioneers that founded Creston."

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