Gov. Newsom reviewing Dr. Oz video that appears to target Armenian bakery
ByLiz NagyVAN NUYS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Gov. Gavin Newsom says his office is taking a close look at a video Dr. Mehmet Oz shot in the San Fernando Valley and reviewing reports that he targeted the local Armenian American community.
A Van Nuys bakery owner claims the video has led to a sharp drop in business after what he calls a false and targeted portrayal of his store.
In a video posted on Tuesday to Oz’s X account, the reality TV personality turned Medicare administrator films from the backseat of a car in Van Nuys and alleges widespread criminal activity.
“You can see these are all medical buildings. They’ve got Cyrillic writing,” he says at the start of the clip.
Oz claims there is “roughly $3.5 billion of fraud taking place here in L.A. in hospice and home care.” As the video cuts to a standing shot, he adds, “It’s run, quite a bit of it, by the Russian Armenian mafia. You notice the lettering and language behind me is of that dialect.”
The lettering behind Oz in the video belongs to the sign for Sherman Way Marketplace, a family-owned bakery and grocery store operated by Movses Bislamyan. He says the business has nothing to do with the criminal claims and has instead been harmed by the association.
“I am really disappointed,” Bislamyan said. “Recording my signs, my location, and talking about some kind of fraud going on here. We have nothing to do with it. It has nothing to do whatsoever with the grocery store.”
Much of the two minute video shows Oz positioned directly beneath the bakery’s sign, including a zoomed in shot as he states, “It also highlights the fact that this is an organized crime mafia deal.”
Bislamyan rejected that characterization.
“There is no Armenian mafia going on here. We’re just hard-working businessmen,” he said. “I don’t understand why he’s mentioning just Armenians… especially Russian Armenians.”
A spokesperson for the Armenian National Committee in Southern California, Garen Jinbachian, said the community has seen similar rhetoric before.
“This isn’t the first time he’s picked on the Armenians, especially with his close ties to Erdogan, with his close ties to the Turkish President Erdogan… to the Turkish government,” Jinbachian said.
Newsom responded publicly on X, writing:
“Our office is reviewing reports that Dr. Mehmet Oz targeted the Armenian American community in Southern California recently — making racially charged claims of fraud outside Armenian-owned businesses, including a popular bakery. Given the historic sensitivities involved, we are taking these allegations seriously. Any and all acts of hate have no place in California.”
