Will Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame be removed?
August 7, 2018
The West Hollywood City Council voted Monday evening in favor of a resolution calling for the removal of US President Donald Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the media insider news outlet The Hollywood Reporter first reported. The Council confirmed its unanimous approval on Tuesday to DW.
The resolution urged the Los Angeles City Council and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to take the president's star out of the pavement "due to his disturbing treatment of women and other actions that do not meet the shared values of the City of West Hollywood, the region, state and country."
West Hollywood Mayor John J. Duran said that political motivations were not behind the call to remove Trump's star.
"The West Hollywood City Council did not pass this Resolution because Donald Trump is a conservative or a Republican. Earning a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is an honor. When one belittles and attacks minorities, immigrants, Muslims, people with disabilities, or women — the honor no longer exists," Duran told DW in an email.
Trump received his star in 2007 for his work as a media producer on the Miss Universe Pageant and the highly popular reality TV show The Apprentice, which he also hosted.
Remove it, replace it?
In addition to "disturbing instances" in Trump's treatment of women, the council's resolution detailed other actions by the president's administration that it found objectionable, including the decision to separate migrant parents and children from one another on the US-Mexico border and Trump's stance toward Russian interference in the US election.
The resolution also highlighted the #metoo and #timesup movements, which swept across the US last year, stating that the ongoing existence of Trump's sidewalk star "should not be acceptable in the Hollywood and entertainment industry communities."
The West Hollywood City Council's resolution was applauded by a Hollywood star who himself had recently been immortalized in the pavement: Mark Hamill — most famous for playing Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars — suggested replacing Trump's star with one for his recently deceased colleague Carrie Fisher, an outspoken women's rights activist.
Read more: Trump naked statues unveiled in five US cities
Decision with Hollywood Chamber of Commerce
Approval of the resolution, however, does not mean that Trump's star will be removed. That decision lies in the hands of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, the administrators of the Walk of Fame, which is located on Los Angeles city public property. The city of West Hollywood is a separate and neighboring municipal area.
"While the Walk of Fame isn’t in the City of West Hollywood, our city speaks out when it sees injustice. In this case, we’re asking the City of LA and Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to say 'time’s up' on Donald Trump's star," the West Hollywood Mayor Pro Tempore John D’Amico, one of the resolutions initiatiors, told DW.
It is not the first time that groups have urged a star be taken off the world famous, 15-block-long sidewalk. Following calls in 2015 for comedian Bill Crosby's star to be removed due to sexual assault allegations, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce issued a statement saying that once in the ground, stars would remain there:
"The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a registered historic landmark. Once a star has been added to the Walk, it is considered a part of the historic fabric of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Because of this, we have never removed a star from the Walk."
Trump's star has been vandalized on multiple occasions, most recently in late July when 24-year-old Austin Clay was reported to have destroyed it with a pickax. Clay was charged with felony vandalism, and the star was repaired. It was also vandalized in 2016 shortly before Trump won the US presidential election.