Los Angeles police are investigating the vandalism of disgraced comedian Bill Cosby’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame after it was marked with the words “serial rapist,” authorities said.

LAPD officials learned someone had scrawled the words in black marker on the star about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday. It is not clear when the message was written, said Officer Mike Lopez.

Authorities cleaned the plaque and reported the vandalism, Lopez said.

Cosby, 81, once known as “America’s dad” for his role on the sitcom “The Cosby Show,” was convicted in April of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand, a former basketball official at Temple University, in 2004 in Philadelphia. He is expected to be sentenced Sept. 24.


Cosby was given a star on the Walk of Fame in November 1977, according to the Walk of Fame’s website, which highlights his television and stand-up comedy career and calls him a “sought-after spokesman.”

Tuesday’s incident isn’t the first time his star has been defaced.

The word “rapist” was written across Cosby’s star three times in marker in 2014 amid mounting allegations from multiple women that he sexually assaulted them decades ago.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has said it will not remove stars of controversial public figures such as Cosby.


“Once a star has been added to the Walk, it is considered a part of the historic fabric of the Hollywood Walk of Fame,” Leron Gubler, former Hollywood Chamber of Commerce president and chief executive, said in 2015. “Because of this, we have never removed a star from the Walk.”

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @Hannahnfry