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It has withstood vandalism, a mute sign and even the miniature wall built around it, but Donald Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame has finally seen its end (for now).
Early Wednesday morning, a hero who identified himself as James Lambert Otis, destroyed Trump's star with a sledgehammer and pickaxe. Otis, however, says his intention was to actually remove the star whole. He told Deadline that he intended to sell the star to raise money for the defense fund of the many women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct, who Trump subsequently has threatened to sue after the election.
However, that task proved to be too difficult and Otis wound up hacking away at it.
"This is horrible—for the tourists, it's a bad impression," Gregg Donovan, "the unofficial ambassador of Hollywood," told LAist. Donovan currently works for L.A. City Tours, which sits across the street from the star at Hollywood and Highland, and he says this act of vandalism "is the worst it has ever been in the last 18 years."
LAPD Officer Liliana Preciado says the act was felony vandalism and that police are using surveillance footage from nearby businesses in addition to the one provided to Deadline as part of their investigation. Otis says he's not too concerned about the potential jail time he faces if caught and convicted, telling City News Service, "I'm not frightened of jail and I'm certainly not frightened of Mr. Trump."
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which administers the Walk of Fame, says the star will be replaced in the coming days. "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," said Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Leron Gubler in a statement. "Our democracy is based on respect for the law. People can make a difference by voting and not destroying public property."
Trump's broken star became a big attraction this morning as passersby snapped photos and news media congregated around what was left of it. As a temporary fix, someone had taped a Trump campaign bumper sticker on the star.
"We saw it last night when it was looking good and we came by this morning and thought, 'That doesn't surprise us!'" said Jeff, who was visiting with his partner Carolyn from Canada.
"I don't mind it being destroyed," said a student passing by, who identified himself as Latino. Because he was playing hooky he declined to be named. "He has said lots of disrespectful things against Latinos and immigrants and so many rude things against women as well. He earned that."
In recent years, not only has Donald Trump's star been targeted, so has the star of Bill Cosby, who has been accused of rape by dozens of women. Protests have been staged at Cosby's star, which is just down the block from Trump's, and it too has been subject to vandalism.
