If Hollywood is going to strip Trump of his Walk of Fame star for sexual misconduct then when will Spacey and Cosby lose theirs?
By Piers Morgan
Daily Mail
August 7, 2018
My favourite game in this era of increasingly hysterical Trump-bashing fervor is Whataboutery.
It’s a game you can play on your own, or with friends, and involves taking shrieking liberal criticism of President Trump – and applying it to liberal heroes instead.
For example, liberals curl themselves into balls of apoplexy about Trump’s draconian tactics to deport illegal immigrants - whilst conveniently overlooking that ‘Saint’ Barack Obama threw out more than three MILLION people during his tenure, splitting up many families, and earning himself the nickname in Mexico of ‘Deporter-in-Chief’.
Then there’s liberal fury over Trump’s sexual behaviour, which is perfectly reasonable given his own unedifying admission that he’s treated women like pieces of meat. When playing ‘Whataboutery’ however, I wonder why the same liberal fury is not extended to Democratic presidential legends Bill Clinton and JFK, whose treatment of women made Trump look like a choirboy?
Or I could ask (as I did last week..) why liberals constantly rage about Trump’s ‘racist, misogynist rhetoric’, but say nothing when the New York Times just hired a columnist, Sarah Jeong, whose Twitter feed spews with the most vile, racist man-hating abuse.
The best place to play Whataboutery is in Hollywood, the seething epicentre of global Trump detestation.
I’ve been here for the past two weeks and the mere mention of Trump’s name anywhere within the confines of Greater Los Angeles provokes the kind of reaction you see when a human being is dabbed with a high voltage electric cattle prod.
So it was no surprise to wake up this morning and discover that Tinsel Town has decided to treat him worse than they have ever treated any famous person in the town’s 108-year history.
Last night, West Hollywood city council voted unanimously in favour of a motion calling for the removal of Donald Trump’s star from the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The resolution said this was because of Trump’s ‘disturbing treatment of women and other actions that do not meet the shared values of the City of West Hollywood.’
It specifically cited Trump’s child separation immigration policy, his ‘refusal to hold Russia accountable for its crimes’, his withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, and his ban on transgender people being in the military.
It concluded: ‘Having a star on the Walk of Fame is a privilege that is highly sought after by those in the entertainment industry. Allowing Mr Trump to continue to have a star in light of his behaviour toward women, particularly in the #timesup and #metoo movements should not be acceptable in the Hollywood and entertainment industry communities.’
West Hollywood city council does not actually have the power to remove the star, as the Walk of Fame falls outside its jurisdiction.
So it will now be sending a formal letter to the overseeing bodies who do, Los Angeles city council and Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, asking them to consider their proposal.
To put this move into context, no star has EVER been removed.
Trump, if the recommendation gets approved, would therefore become the very first person to be expunged from the Walk of Fame.
West Hollywood Mayor John Duran said: ‘The city council did not pass the resolution because Donald Trump is a conservative or Republican. Earning a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is an honour. When one belittles and attacks minorities, immigrants, people with disabilities or women, the honour no longer exists.’
He added: ‘Never have we intruded into our neighbouring city’s business like this. But the circumstances compelled us to make an exception to the rule.’
Do they, Mr Mayor?
The Walk of Fame features more than 2,500 terrazzo-and-brass stars dedicated to celebrities and industry figures from movies, television, music, theatre and radio.
Trump received his in 2007 at a ceremony he attended alongside his wife Melania and youngest son Barron. He got it for his work on two huge TV hits – the Miss Universe Pageant and The Apprentice.
Since he became President, after a very divisive campaign, Trump’s star has been repeatedly attacked by vandals; last month, 24-year-old Austin Mikel Clay destroyed it with a pickaxe and was charged with a felony crime.
So it’s undeniably become a focal point for anger and abuse from those who don’t agree with his politics.
But for Trump’s star to now be removed would represent a stunning and unprecedented display of moral condemnation by the Hollywood community.
It would also represent the single most hypocritical act of laughable self-righteous bullsh*t ever seen on Planet Earth.
To explain, let’s play my Whataboutery game.
Right next to Trump’s star is one honouring Kevin Spacey, whose glittering movie career recently imploded last year after more than a dozen men accused him of sexual harassment and assault, including some who were minors at the time. What about Spacey? Does he meet the ‘shared values’ of the Hollywood community?
Or what about Bill Cosby, whose star still shines brightly on the Walk of Fame? He was found guilty in April this year of three counts of aggravated assault on a woman. A further 60 women accused him of offences ranging from rape to sexual battery.
And what about another Hollywood star recipient, director Brett Ratner? He stood down from his job at Warner Bros just a few months after his ceremony in January when six women accused him of rape, sexual assault and harassment.
I could go on, and I will, because the list of star recipients with morally repugnant backgrounds is long and damnable.
What about Disney animator John Lasseter? He is currently on a ‘sabbatical’ after acknowledging ‘missteps’ in his behaviour towards female employees, which others translated to ‘sexual misconduct’.
What about Sean Connery, who once boasted there was nothing wrong with hitting women and whose first wife Diane Cilento later claimed he’d beaten her unconscious during their marriage?
What about Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was accused by multiple women of groping and impregnated his children’s nanny before becoming Governor of California?
What about Michael Jackson, who paid off young boys that accused him of sexual assault?
And if Hollywood’s so worried about Russian collusion, can it explain why Larry King still has a star given he is paid by Russian state television RT America to present a show for them?
Even Godzilla, the worst amoral destructive monster in history, has a Hollywood star on the Walk of Fame. Does Godzilla meet the ‘shared values’ of the Hollywood community?
I didn’t think we’d ever see Hollywood commit an act more ludicrously hypocritical than awarding fugitive child rapist Roman Polanski an Oscar, and giving him a standing ovation (led by Meryl Streep) in his enforced absentia.
I was wrong.
Demanding, on moral grounds, that Donald Trump’s star should be removed from the Walk of Shame, is beyond parody.
What about shutting up about Trump’s moral failings, Hollywood, until you’re prepared to apply the same standards to your own ‘shared values’?
EDITOR’S NOTE: Some of my friends have a strong dislike for Piers Morgan, but I admire the man. He blasts both conservatives and liberals and both Trump and Trump haters. This post is just one good example.
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