West Hollywood City Council Calls for Trump's Walk of Fame Star to Be Permanently Removed

On Monday night, the West Hollywood City Council unanimously approved a resolution calling to remove Donald Trump’s star from the Walk of Fame after it was vandalized yet again.

Unfortunately, the star is safe for now, as the Walk of Fame is under the jurisdiction of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, not the city council. Still, the resolution cited 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” as reasons to remove the monument.

“Earning a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is an honor,” West Hollywood Mayor John D’Amico told The Wrap. “When one belittles and attacks minorities, immigrants, people with disabilities, or women—the honor no longer exists.”

Trump’s star has been repeatedly vandalized and destroyed in the past two years, although the city council did not specifically cite those incidents in its call to remove the star. Last month, a man destroyed the star with a pickaxe, then later turned himself in to the police. He was arrested for vandalism and reportedly bailed out by another man who vandalized the Trump star in 2016.

The star currently exists as a highly public site for protests. It has been spray-painted with Nazi symbols, covered in dog shit, and spit on.

In response to the action by the city council, Leron Gubler, president and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, reiterated the statement he made in the aftermath of the 2016 vandalism.

“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,” he said.

In 2015, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce denied a petition to remove Bill Cosby’s star, insisting that stars are never removed from the Walk of Fame.

“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,” Gubler told the Hollywood Reporter in 2015. “Because of this, we have never removed a star from the Walk.”

However, Gubler recently announced that he will retire from his position in 2019. Maybe next year we can finally recognize that anger cannot, and should not, always be projected in a polite and easily manageable way.