Taking stand: Donald Trump’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star vandalised

Investigations continue regarding culprit while British actor Hugh Laurie receives new star

Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was defaced by an unknown vandal wielding a sledgehammer and a pick-axe on Wednesday, in an act captured on video, reported Reuters. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) expect to arrest someone for the vandalism, which left Trump’s name scratched out of the star, the emblem in the middle dislodged and chips missing.

A video posted on Hollywood media website Deadline.com showed a man wearing a hard-hat and reflective vest swinging a sledgehammer and pick-axe in the pre-dawn darkness. The area had been cordoned off with traffic barriers and cones, giving it the appearance of a legitimate work site.

The Republican presidential nominee, real estate developer and reality TV star has faced several large protests during his campaign appearances in California, where polls show him far behind Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Los Angeles-based City News reported a man identifying himself as James Lambert Otis said he had damaged the installation “to make a point.” The man said he had family members who were victims of sexual assault and had intended to remove the star, which he was unable to do, and auction it off to benefit women who have alleged Trump groped them. Trump denied the allegations. Otis could not be reached for comment on the report.

Hugh Laurie. PHOTO: FILE

The former frontman of the NBC show The Apprentice, Trump received his Walk of Fame star in 2007. A spokeswoman for Trump could not be reached for comment. LAPD spokeswoman Liliana Preciado confirmed investigators have a video capturing the vandalism and the police expect to arrest whoever was responsible soon.

Trump drew widespread condemnations from voters and a number of Republican elected officials after a 2005 video emerged in which he was heard talking on an open microphone about groping women and trying to seduce a married one.

Trump’s star on the Walk of Fame has been targeted before too. Last summer, a street artist erected a tiny wall around the star, complete with miniature American flags and barbed wire. The art piece, which was later removed, made light of Trump’s campaign pledge to build a wall along the US border with Mexico.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce administers the hundreds of star plaques on sidewalks in the Los Angeles neighbourhood. They are purchased for $30,000 each. Leron Gubler, president and CEO of the chamber, said in a statement, that the star would be covered for several days during repairs.

ACCOLADE  :

Hugh Laurie in the house

British actor Hugh Laurie, best known for playing a cantankerous doctor in the TV series House, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this week, reported Reuters. Laurie, 57, was already well-known in Britain in the late 1980s for his role in the comedy series Blackadder.

“I have lost count of the number of times, the number of young people I’ve met who are either studying or practicing medicine because they saw House,” Laurie said at the ceremony in Los Angeles. “There are physicians today saving lives, delivering babies and lancing boils because their imagination was ignited by stories and ideas and possibilities that they might not otherwise have considered,” he said.

Laurie currently stars in Hulu’s thriller TV series Chance, playing a forensic neuropsychiatrist. The Hollywood Walk of Fame said, on its website, that Laurie received the 2,593^rd star on the renowned Hollywood Boulevard.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2016.

Like Life & Style on Facebook, follow @ETLifeandStyle on Twitter for the latest in fashion, gossip and entertainment.