San Antonio Fire Department Chief Charles Hood is defending himself after a photo of him next to a naked woman covered in sushi was released last week.
“You walk in the front door and there’s a sushi lady there that I guess is a business, so I stopped and posed and take a picture. That’s it,” Hood told the San Antonio Express News.
“It would be like me taking a picture with a flamenco dancer in Vegas or a Spurs dancer at Top Golf where the Spurs dancers happen to be there.”
The photo shows Hood kneeling next to a nude woman while taking a piece of sushi off her body. The photo was taken in January at another firefighter's birthday party and was published last week by the Express News.
Hood isn't in uniform and was off duty at the time. The party wasn't a fire department sponsored event but Hood is still receiving backlash for the photo since nyotaimori - "body sushi" - is seen as demeaning towards woman.
“The scene in that photo is counter to the standards and values that we expect from the city of San Antonio organization,” said Mayor Ron Nirenberg.
Body sushi has been criticized as objectifying women since a nude female body is used to serve sushi. Flowers and leaves cover the woman's genitals as diners take pieces of sushi off of the woman's arms, legs, or stomach. It was popular during Japan's Edo Period (1603 – 1867) as a way to reward samurais after battle, according to Food & Wine.
Hood called the birthday party "more or less a family event" and said he didn't know about the sushi display before arriving.
“I know that picture offended some people, and for those who it offended, I’m extremely sorry. I didn’t go out there to offend anyone. I didn’t go out there to objectify women," said Hood.
The city is now investigating the incident, Fox 29 reported.
Photo: Getty Images