West Hollywood City Council Approves Resolution Urging Removal of Trump's Walk of Fame Star

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce previously said it would never remove a star over backlash.

West Hollywood City Council has voted "unanimously" to approve a resolution urging Los Angeles City Council and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to permanently remove Donald Trump’s Walk of Fame star.

The star, which was unveiled in 2007, has been vandalized numerous times and completely destroyed twice. The most recent destruction came in late July when 24-year-old Austin Mikel Clay allegedly took a pickaxe to it. For his actions, he was booked on felony vandalism and jailed on $20,000 bail. He has since been released.

The council considered the removal of the star at a meeting on Monday evening. The agenda item read: "The City Council will consider adopting a resolution urging the Los Angeles City Council and Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to remove President Donald J. Trump’s star from the Hollywood Walk of Fame, due to his 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"

Following the meeting, a council rep emailed The Hollywood Reporter: "At this evening’s regular City Council meeting, the West Hollywood City Council voted unanimously to approve the Resolution."

The staff report for the resolution lists numerous reasons for the matter, including the separation of children from their parents at the border, the denial of the impacts from climate change on the word, Trump's treatment of transgender individuals and the denial of findings from the intelligence community of Russian interference in the 2016 election, among others.

The approval of a resolution urging the removal of Trump's star, however, does not necessarily mean that L.A. City Council and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce will follow through. In December 2015, there were widespread calls for the removal of Bill Cosby's star from the Walk of Fame amid multiple sexual assault claims leveled against the comedian. Hollywood Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Leron Gubler emailed THR that the chamber did not remove stars over public backlash and cited historical landmark status.

Gubler stated: "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. Because of this, we have never removed a star from the Walk."

Before the July destruction, 53-year-old James Lambert Otis was taped destroying the star with a jackhammer and a pickaxe in October 2016. He later pleaded no contest to one felony count of vandalism.

Otis told THR he intended to help Clay with his legal troubles.

Aug. 6, 8:57 p.m. Updated with results of the council meeting.