Trump’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star destroyed again
Los Angeles police say the suspect who allegedly vandalized President Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame has been taken into custody, but this isn’t the first time his star has been destroyed.
The West Hollywood City Council has unanimously voted to urge the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and the Los Angeles City Council to remove President Trump’s star from the Hollywood Walk of Fame because of his “disturbing treatment of women and other actions.”
And here we thought Hollywood – that renowned paragon of virtue and morality – had lost its values.
Donald Trump got his star in 2007 for his previous job as host of the TV reality show “The Apprentice.”
There are numerous stars embedded in the Walk of Fame honoring celebrities who have been accused of sexual misconduct. And yet the West Hollywood City Council considers President Trump an affront to its moral compass?
Never mind that as you stroll down the Walk of Fame it can start to resemble the Walk of Shame.
Still holding a prominent place of honor are stars like Bill Cosby, who was convicted of aggravated assault and has racked up multiple accusations of sexual abuse.
Brett Ratner, director of the “Rush Hour” movies among others, had six accusations of sexual misconduct leveled against him, causing Warner Brothers to cut ties with him this year. His star is still on the walk.
Also not contested by the West Hollywood City Council is Charlie Sheen, who has a long, sordid history of violence against women. In 1990 he claimed it was an accident when he shot then fiancée Kelly Preston, but she ended the relationship right afterward.
Sheen has also been accused of domestic abuse by both of his ex-wives, and he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge against his second wife, Brooke Mueller.
Netflix fired Kevin Spacey from its megahit show “House of Cards” after numerous accusations of sexual assault by young men and boys surfaced against the actor, yet his star remains on the Walk of Fame.
So, are we to assume that the West Hollywood City Council doesn’t consider the actions of Cosby, Sheen or Ratner to qualify as “disturbing treatment of women?”
Or that the moral arbiters of the nation’s entertainment capital consider the actions of Kevin Spacey to “meet the shared values of the City of West Hollywood?”
Interestingly, Spacey’s star goes virtually unscathed, while sitting next to President Trump’s star, which has been vandalized multiple times. The latest incident came last month when it was destroyed by a man with a pick axe.
West Hollywood Mayor John Duran denies a political agenda is at play saying: “The West Hollywood City Council did not pass the resolution because Donald Trump is a conservative or a Republican.”
Of course the council didn’t – who could possibly think such a thing?
Yet according to a staff report, other factors taken into consideration during the vote to remove President Trump’s star include “the separation of children from their parents at the United States border; Denial of findings from the United States intelligence community regarding Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election, and the continued refusal to hold Russia accountable for its crimes; Denial of the impacts of climate change on the world, and the withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement…”
Nothing political to see there.
After the vote, Mayor Duncan took to Twitter to celebrate, tweeting: “West Hollywood City Council unanimously passes resolution asking the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to remove the Donald Trump star on Hollywood Walk of Fame. #horcruxdestroyed #bellicose #belligerent #unAmericanvalues #MakeAmericaintoAmericaAgain"
The mayor failed to see the irony in his clever hashtags. We can assume the likes of #bellicose, #belligerent and #unAmericanvalues were meant to be directed at the president. Yet it was a hateful man with a pick axe who destroyed the shape of a star simply because it had the president’s name on it. That’s about as bellicose, belligerent and un-American as you can get.
Attacks on President Trump by those who hate him expose their own intolerance.
If the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce chooses to remove the president’s star it will mark the first time a star has ever been removed from the Walk of Fame in its 60 years of existence.
In 2015, responding to the controversy surrounding Bill Cosby, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Leron Gubler said: “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.”
Following the sexual misconduct allegations against Harvey Weinstein and others last year, the Chamber echoed the same position, saying it had no plans to remove a celebrity’s star due to misconduct charges.
Now that the star in question bears the name of arguably the most hated man in Hollywood, will the Chamber still consider it a part of its historic fabric? Or will this be the first time in 60 years the chamber makes an exception?
They can remove President Trump’s star from Hollywood Boulevard, but he still occupies 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
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