Don’t feel too bad, Donald: People often vent their feelings upon those famous pink stars.
By Francie Diep
The Hollywood Walk of Fame star of Donald Trump is repaired after it was vandalized by a protester. (Photo: David McNew/Getty Images)
Early yesterday morning, a man took a sledgehammer and pickaxe to Donald Trump’s pink terrazzo Walk of Fame star, smashing off the star’s brass lettering and chipping its center, as a Deadline video shows.
This isn’t the first time vandals have taken out their feelings — both negative and positive — on the Walk of Fame’s landmarks:
- Activists recently covered several celebrities’ nameplates with the names of black American men who have been killed by police. “There are names within our current culture who deserve the attention more so than these ‘celebrities,’” the group responsible wrote in a statement to the Washington Post.
- In December 2014, after more than 20 women had accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault, somebody wrote “rapist” on his star.
- Just before John Lennon’s birthday in 2013, fans left messages and doodled a heart, peace sign, mushroom, and smiley face on his star.
- Aretha Franklin’s, and Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen’s, stars have had “fur hag(s)” written on them, in protest of their sartorial choices.
- This isn’t even this first time Trump’s star has endured acts of vandalism since he began his presidential campaign. The Trump star has had a mute symbol and a swastika spray-painted on it. In July, an artist built a barbed wire-topped mini-wall around it.
In all news accounts of Walk of Fame star vandalism, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce moves quickly to clean the stars. It never removes stars, no matter how controversial their namesakes. We’ll see how long it takes to replace Trump’s star altogether.
Even barring vandalism, a Walk of Fame star seems to take a lot of people and resources to maintain. Tree roots, chewing gum, and the subway line that runs underneath all wreck havoc on the walkway. As a result, the stars undergo regular power-washing and polishing.
