Not going anywhere. As pressure mounts from activist groups for now-disgraced comedian Bill Cosby to be stripped of his honors and accolades, one such award is remaining in place.
A representative for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce responded to requests for Cosby’s star to be removed from the Hollywood Walk of Fame, explaining that the monument will not be taken down.
“The answer is no,” Hollywood Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Leron Gubler said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times. “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.”
Gubler’s words follow a letter from Earl Ofari Hutchinson of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable and Najee Ali of Project Islamic HOPE, who petitioned for the removal of the star baring Cosby’s name, calling the strip the “Walk of Shame” if Cosby’s star continues to hold its spot amongst Hollywood greats.
Earlier this week, Cosby’s Presidential Medal of Freedom came under the microscope following the Associated Press’ talked-about release of 2005 documents, in which Cosby admits to procuring Quaaludes for the women he wanted to have sex with.
The status of Cosby’s Medal of Freedom is less definite than that of his star, as White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said he didn’t know “whether or not it’s legally possible” to revoke the honor.
One tribute that was revoked, however, was Cosby’s statue in Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World. The bust stood in the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame Plaza for years alongside figures of Lucille Ball, Dick Clark, and Oprah Winfrey, among others, but was taken down on Tuesday, July 7.
