Who is Paul Rodriguez? Comedian denies alleged drug possession charge after being arrested in Burbank
Comedian Paul Rodriguez was arrested in Burbank, California, on March 28, 2025. According to The New York Post's report, the Burbank Police Department first stopped his vehicle for a code violation. Then Rodriguez was arrested around 7:30 pm local time for alleged drug possession.
According to Fox, Paul Rodriguez has been a bilingual stand-up comedian for over 30 years. As per his IMDb profile, he was born in Mexico and grew up in East Los Angeles. He has also worked in more than 40 films, including Beverly Hills Chihuahua and Blood Work.
According to the New York Post, the comedian's lawyer, Bobby Samini, stated that the driver of the vehicle possessed the illegal substance, and Rodriguez fully cooperated with the authorities as he was the passenger. Samini said:
"Mr. Rodriguez was a passenger in a vehicle that was pulled over by the Burbank Police Department last night. He fully cooperated with law enforcement at all times. Law enforcement asserted that the driver of the vehicle was in possession of a controlled substance."
The lawyer claimed Paul Rodriguez was innocent and his arrest was a violation of his civil rights. He said:
"Mr. Rodriguez did not have any controlled substance in his possession, nor was he under the influence of any controlled substance. Mr. Rodriguez’s arrest and treatment constituted a violation of his civil rights. We look forward to establishing Mr. Rodriguez’s innocence in a court of law."
Paul Rodriguez claimed his arrest was allegedly racially motivated
On March 29, 2025, the comedian told TMZ that on the day of his arrest, he was sleeping in the back seat of the car. He added that the arrest might have been racially motivated. The "Caucasian" police officer allegedly slapped him. He also claimed the officer was on a "power trip."
Rodriguez insisted that he was innocent and that the drugs were allegedly his friend's, who was driving the car. He said that she confessed to the officers that she owned the drugs. However, the officers arrested both of them after they allegedly "roughed [them] up." Rodriguez also told the media outlet that his car was impounded.
The stand-up comedian previously made headlines for his support for Donald Trump
According to Yahoo Entertainment's report dated November 7, 2018, Paul Rodriguez admitted he's a Republican. He told TMZ that, as a Mexican-American immigrant, he supports Donald Trump. He said at the time:
"That’s very rare to find a Mexican-American who’s a Republican. At least people can look at me and know that it’s not that I don’t love this country. I’m an immigrant. I love this country."
Rodriguez stated that he might be targeted for admitting his political alliance, but he wanted to speak his mind.
"It’s a terrible thing for me to say this. I will pay the price for it, but as long as we’re able to speak our minds, I think I should have the right to be wrong in your opinion," he said.
For the unversed, Paul Rodriguez appeared in the 2002 stand-up film The Original Latin Kings of Comedy, directed by Jeb Brien. The film featured the routines of fellow comedians George Lopez, Cheech Marin, Joey Medina, and Alex Reymundo.