The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has rejected calls that the star dedicated to Bill Cosby be removed from the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
“The answer is no,” said Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President and CEO, Leron Gubler. “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.”
The late Johnny Grant, who chaired the Hollywood Walk of Fame Committee for a time, previously addressed the pressure to remove the stars dedicated to other actors.
“Stars are awarded for professional achievement to the world of entertainment and contributions to the community,” he said. “A celebrity’s politics, philosophy, irrational behaviour, outrageous remarks or anything like that have never been cause to remove a Walk of Fame star.”
Public outcry to remove the star was sparked by the many sexual assault allegations against Cosby.
It grew louder this week in the wake of revelations that the comedian gave a woman drugs before sex.
Protesters say retaining it will make the popular Hollywood monument a “walk of shame” even as some people have made attempt to deface the landmark in recent months.
A statue of the disgraced comedian was removed from a Disney theme park earlier in the week.
The bust had been part of a Hall of Fame exhibit at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park in Florida.
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art in Washington however issued a statement on Tuesday saying it would continue to display artworks lent to the institution by Cosby and his wife Camille.
It said it was aware of the recent revelations about Cosby and that it “in no way condones this behaviour”, but said the exhibition was about the artworks and not their owners.
Documents unsealed this week revealed Cosby testified in 2005 he had obtained Quaaludes with the intent of giving them to women he wanted to sleep with.
Cosby is facing a series of sexual assault claims dating back decades by several women.
The 77-year-old has denied the accusations and has never been criminally charged.
