Comedian and talk show host Jay Leno is being sued by an Indian-American man, who accuses him of making "racist" references concerning the Golden Temple of Amritsar. Randeep Dhillon says Leno "hurt the sentiments of all Sikh people in addition to the plaintiff", when he referenced the shrine in one of his skits, reports Bbc News.
In the comedy segment, the host depicted the Golden Temple as the summer home of Republican candidate Mitt Romney. The politician has recently faced questions over his personal wealth, and Sikhs were incensed that their shrine was shown as place for the rich. An Indian minister called the comments "objectionable", but Mr Dhillon went as far as filing a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday (24 January 2012), seeking personal damages. In his petition, Dhillon says Leno's skit, "clearly exposes plaintiff, other Sikhs and their religion to hatred, contempt, ridicule and obloquy because it falsely portrays the holiest place in the Sikh religion as a vacation resort owned by a non-Sikh". Some Sikhs also demanded action be taken against the NBC channel for airing a "racist and derogatory" depiction of the temple.
Leno has also irked a Catholic organization with a remark he made on Monday's Tonight Show (January 23, 2012). When reporting on a Los Angeles bishop who resigned after admitting fathering two children, Leno said, "I thought bishops could only move diagonally. I didn't know they could move up and down".