Univision Host -- Michelle Obama Got Me Fired

The Univision talk show host canned for racist remarks about Michelle Obama says the pink slip was generated from the First Lady's Office.

Rodner Figueroa's team tells TMZ ... no one from the station or social media uttered a peep when he said Wednesday morning that a makeup artist who transformed himself into Michelle Obama, looked like a member of the "Planet of the Apes" cast.

The team claims at 10:20 PM Wednesday they got a call from a Univision exec who said Michelle Obama's office called the network to complain.

Figueroa wrote a letter to the First Lady -- obtained by TMZ -- in which he says he's from a bi-racial family, half-black, half-Latin, and adds he's the first openly gay Hispanic TV presenter. He says, "I've been an activist for causes in favor of minorities, as I have been discriminated against."

Figueroa then writes, "I voted openly twice for your husband, Barack Obama."