Trump's Hollywood Walk Of Fame Star Should Be Permanently Removed, Resolution Urges

The West Hollywood City Council unanimously passed a resolution Monday, which asked the Los Angeles City Council and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to permanently remove President Donald Trump’s star from the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The news was posted on Twitter by West Hollywood Mayor John Duran.

People representing factions supporting and opposing Trump were present at the meeting.

In the meeting that was live streamed on YouTube, Duran said the resolution “is not because of his conservative politics or his conservative policies. It is for the abuse of women, minorities, immigrants, the disabled … you’ve crossed a line of decency.”

“Unfortunately some of the comments made by the Trump supporters tonight are a reflection of that anger and angst and divisiveness. If anyone ever needed to solidify my vote on this, the Trump supporters who showed up tonight … pretty much solidified that what we’re doing is right,” he said.

The council had put the resolution on the “consent calendar,” which was for “routine matters [that] can be acted on by one motion.”

The resolution, which was passed by a 4-0 vote, was a symbolic stand against Trump by the West Hollywood City Council as they have no power over whether the star unveiled in 2007 can be removed or not.

The motion passed by the West Hollywood City Council urged for the immediate removal of Trump’s star due to multiple reasons.

"Starting with the 2016 presidential election, a number of disturbing instances concerning Mr. Trump’s treatment of women came to light, including the Access Hollywood tape where Mr. Trump is heard making disparaging remarks about women, multiple allegations of abuse, and efforts to cover up those instances," the resolution said. "Allowing Mr. Trump to continue to have a star in light of his behavior toward women, particularly in the #timesup and #metoo movements, should not be acceptable in the Hollywood and entertainment industry communities."

The man who destroyed Trump’s Hollywood Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on July 25 was also present at the meeting and spoke about why he did so.

“I think it’s important that in politics we take a stand against those that we believe are fraudulent, those that we believe are liars, those that we believe are unethical, and I think that our president Donald Trump is unethical, fraudulent and a liar,” 24-year-old Austin Clay of Glendale said.

“Also, I'd like to preserve the integrity of the walk of fame as an honorable landmark for the American landscape. … Donald trump is someone who is putting children in cages, who is removing them from their parents permanently, who is disrespectful to women, who is colluding with a foreign dictator, Vladimir Putin.”

Clay was charged Monday in Los Angeles for destroying Trump's star on Hollywood Boulevard with a pickaxe, with one felony count for vandalism.

The star was replaced by the Hollywood Historic Trust the next day itself. With the current charges, Clay can face up to three years in jail if convicted.

Meanwhile, after the destruction of the star on July 25, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce had come out with a statement that the Walk is a historical landmark, and therefore a star would never be removed.

“Once a star has been added to the walk, it is considered a part of the historic fabric of the Hollywood Walk of Fame,” said Leron Gubler, the president/CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. “Because of this, we have never removed a star from the walk.”

“The Hollywood Walk of Fame is an institution celebrating the positive contributions of the inductees,” he said. “When people are unhappy with one of our honorees, we would hope that they would project their anger in more positive ways than to vandalize a California State landmark. Our democracy is based on respect for the law. People can make a difference by voting and not destroying public property.”

Trump was given the star for his work as producer in the Miss Universe pageant. This is not the first time the president’s star was vandalized.

Before the November 2016 elections, the star was vandalized by James Otis, who was then ordered to pay $4,400 for the damage and sentenced to community labor as well.