If the West Hollywood City Council has its way, President Donald Trump will officially be excised from the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The five-member council voted unanimously on Monday to ask for Trump’s star to be removed. The council does not have the authority to remove the star itself, but plans to send a formal letter to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, the Los Angeles City Council, and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for consideration. Ultimately, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce will have the power to decide whether to remove the star.
The West Hollywood City Council cited a number of reasons behind its resolution to remove the star, including Trump’s “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.” The separation of migrant families at the border, withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, and Trump’s treatment of transgender individuals were among other concerns cited.
West Hollywood Mayor Pro Tempore John D’Amico told TheWrap that the council “did not pass the resolution because Trump is a conservative or a Republican.” Noting that earning a star “is an honor,” D’Amico explained that “when one belittles and attacks minorities, immigrants, people with disabilities or women—the honor no longer exists.”
Trump’s Walk of Fame star has been vandalized numerous times in recent years. Late last month, a man took a pickaxe to the star, turning it into rubble. And just before Trump was elected to the presidency, another individual destroyed the star with a pickaxe. Others have built a wall around the star, spray-painted a swastika on it, and covered it in stickers.
It is unclear whether the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce will agree to the requests to remove the star. In 2015, then-president and CEO of the Chamber Leron Gubler refused to remove Bill Cosby’s star, saying that “once a star has been added to the Walk, it is considered a part of the historic fabric of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.”
