Hollywood, and by extension the greater LA area considers itself the Entertainment Capitol of the World. They’ve got a great chance to prove it by banning Trump/his star from the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame. There are sh*t shows and there are sh*t shows but given his ego how much Trump would freak the f**k out if he were to lose his (undeserved) star on the Walk of Fame would, for a while at least be the proverbial “Greatest Show On Earth!
Infuriatingly (to countless people) Trump’s got a star on the Walk of Fame. Like many others his getting one was questioned from the beginning but someone nominated him (the qualifications aren’t all that stringent to begin with) and he was willing to shell out the fee (people have to pay for their own star/monument) and so it’s there. It’s been vandalized multiple times and the group that maintains the monument has had to shell out upwards of 20k in repairs. But as with other’s stars that countless people think should be removed it’s still there. No star has ever been removed. There’s no provision for doing so and since several groups are involved in granting the recognition, maintaining the monument efforts to create a provision for removing a star have petered out.
Until now. Now someone is determined to force this issue to a head. To determine just WHO has the authority to say a given star should be removed and order it done. The LA Times writes that this time things might be different. It seems Hollywood Hills resident Andrew Rudick isn’t going to give up until Trump’s star isn’t just jackhammered out, but that it’s done by the proper authorities (instead of one of the vandals who’ve done it already only to have it replaced) never to return! How serious is Rudick? From the article:
Over the last three years, he’s submitted public records requests, retrieved case documents from the Los Angeles County Superior Court, spoken at City Council meetings and corresponded with government officials.
He’s determined to get Donald Trump’s star removed from the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It’s not an easy task.
I’m guessing if you’re reading this your reaction is “oh please, please PLEASE!” I had a similar one only more involved and in way more “colorful” terms. But once I got done with imagining the “double flash” of the thermonuclear explosion from Trump this will provoke (the double-flash signature is too complicated to go into but it’s a real thing) my thoughts got practical. As in this: This guy has spent three freaking years already on this mission. If he was going to give up he would have done so long ago. Better still, if you read the linked article you’ll see just how determined he is.
Several organizations have some level of jurisdiction, a hand in operating the Walk of Fame, including the City Council, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and the Hollywood Historic Trust. Each has people serving who don’t want Trump’s star there. However, despite calls to remove it they’ve kept passing the buck, saying there’s no provision for taking out someone’s star once it’s been installed. I think all that started even before MAGA got ramped up to death threat issuing mode. Mostly I think they’ve always been worried about the old “slippery slope” thing as in once one person’s star gets removed getting hit with requests all the time for all manner of reasons about removing honorees stars from the monument.
That’s right. Trump isn’t the only, or even first person that’s faced calls to have their star removed. However for some years now he’s the most visible and the most intensely focused on “star” people want to see gone. As I said, up until now a person/group trying to get a star removed has taken a run at the the bureaucracy and given up. Even public sentiment has died down over time over attempts with other people, say Bill Cosby as an example. Many assume the Walk of Fame is part of the National Register of Historic Places so it’s best not to mess with things. Actually, it’s not. It’s only part of the California version. My point is that with several organizations having some role in authorizing additions and/or maintaining the Walk of Fame monument AND public perceptions pressure to remove any given star from it has always eased. It’s complicated and the public loses interest after a while. So do individuals/groups that make efforts at times to have this or that person’s star removed.
Not this time. Sentiments are changing. Back in 2015 then Chair of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce said flatly that stars couldn’t be removed in response to a request to remove Cosby’s:
“Once a star has been added to the Walk, it is considered a part of the historic fabric of the Hollywood Walk of Fame,” Gubler told The Times in 2015 in an emailed statement. “Because of this, we have never removed a star from the Walk.”
Well, that was then. Now, according to Ana Martinez, the chamber’s vice president of media and talent relations, the chamber doesn’t have the power to remove a star:
“The Chamber is authorized by the City to administer Walk of Fame ceremonies, select and honor the recipient, order the fabrication of the star and place the star in the sidewalk,” Martinez said in an email, “but the Chamber does not have the authority from any jurisdiction to permanently remove a star. … We don’t understand why people think we do have that authority.”
Ok. So who does? That’s murkier but thanks to the tireless efforts of Rudick perhaps the water is clearing. He believes since the City Council has final authority on approving a star then they would have the authority to rescind the initial approval which would allow a star to be removed. In an interview council member Bob said “ There are a number of folks, including both Cosby and Trump, who certainly don’t deserve a star given what we now know about them.” Others feel similarly but over the years have punted on the issue of removing stars. Even Blumenfield who willingly goes on the record saying he’s support removing Trump says it’s not a priority, that he won’t lead the charge. However there appears to be someone else Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, who represents the district containing the Walk of Fame who is:
“Donald Trump is a racist, fascist, and a threat to our democracy,” Soto-Martínez said in a statement. “Since there’s no known precedent for removing a star from the Hollywood Walk of Fame, we’re looking into where the authority lies, what the legal issues may be, and what a process for it might look like.”
So what we’ve had is the Hollywood Council and even the LA City Council talking about it, and resolutions have even been introduced but in the end no action has been taken. It’s a hot potato that keeps getting tossed. As for any “Historical” protections yes, the Walk of Fame is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. It gets protections via the city’s Cultural Heritage Ordinance. But changing or removing one star would not violate these protections, according to the city Planning Department:
“Changing lettering on one or a handful of star panels out of over 2,700 would not constitute a substantial alteration to the Monument,” a city planning representative said in an email. “The removal of any individual’s name and recognition emblem would leave intact the historic materials that make up the remainder of the Walk of Fame.”
So, it looks like Rudick has managed to focus the spotlight on the LA City Council. I agree. Since in the end they have final authority to approve additions (stars) to the Walk of Fame Memorial, it stands to reason that absent other laws/provisions regarding protections of Historical Landmarks they’ve got the authority to authorize revisions. Such as removal of a given star from the monument.
Rudick says the first step is them having the City Attorney draft of report on the star removal process. He’s even tried to make things easier for them, offering a bit of a loophole. In June he submitted a proposal to replace Trump’s star with one that honors “the Entertainment Workers of Los Angeles.” He thinks it might be easier in the end, less of an administrative headache to replace Trump’s star than to remove it. Maybe he’s right, maybe not but one thing is certain: Rudick isn’t going to let this go. He’s going to keep pushing. That’s where things could get really fun.
It’s my hope that with everything going on the LA City Council decides to as quickly as possible put this on the agenda and pass it. Trump will find out about it since it’s a public process but if they move quickly they won’t give him time to gin up much outrage. He will after all have plenty of other stuff going on. He’s running for President for one thing. He’s also embroiled in LOTS of civil and criminal trials with a good chance of more being added to the pile of legal doo-doo he’s already up to his neck in. Oh, he’ll threaten to sue but would he have the time or money to do so? I don’t think so. What he CAN do and would do is provide some epic entertainment in what is sure to be a meltdown for the ages!
(Note: I specifically chose NOT to use a picture of Trump’s actual star. If there was a picture or GIF of a large dog squirting out a massive load of diarrhea on it I’d gladly have used it. Alas, I couldn’t find one so I went with something generic)
How about, instead of removing or replacing trumpleforeskin’s star, resolve that sufficient money and effort has been wasted replacing it after each vandalism. The next time it’s defaced, it should be replaced by a plain block of whatever the background material is and left blank for as long as is required for public attention remembers that was where he was once “memorialized”. Problem solved. Possibly not as “IN YOUR FACE, SH!THEAD” as some may desire but also possibly not AS likely to focus death threats or other negative attention on anyone.
Where’s Tyler Durden from Fight Club when we need him? Betcha he’d find a way to remove it or just destroy the whole phucking monument to the illusion factory! Too bad he was also a figment of imagination. Damnit!
I’m sorry but that sidewalk sideshow of stars is still a thing? It’s kind of like columbus day or changing the clocks every six months.
If his is being vandalized and perhaps becoming a trip hazard or the like, yeah, remove the damned thing. I just don’t see why this is considered newsworthy–slow day?
You “just don’t see why this is considered newsworthy” and, yet, you STILL chose to offer your thoughts on the issue.
Are you just bored or something?
doubtless Trump would threaten to sue, but on what grounds? The star is not his property.