Bill Cosby’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame will remain on display despite his Tuesday sentencing to 3 to 10 years in prison.
The disgraced actor, who was sentenced to a Pennsylvania state prison Tuesday after a long court battle and was named a “sexually violent predator,” was reportedly immediately taken to holding following the verdict, and a request for house arrest pending appeal was denied.
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According to TMZ, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce said the actor’s star on the Walk of Fame will not be taken down.
“Once installed, the stars become part of the historic fabric of the Walk of Fame, a ‘designated historic cultural landmark,’ and are intended to be permanent,” a representative of the Chamber of Commerce told the publication in a statement. “The stars only commemorate the recipient’s professional accomplishments”
“It is regrettable when the personal lives of inductees do not measure up to public standards and expectations; however, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce does not remove stars from the Walk of Fame,” the statement concluded.
Cosby’s star has been the subject of vandalism recently, when someone wrote the words “serial rapist” on the star.
After being classified as a “violent sexual predator,” Cosby, 81, will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. The actor was found guilty of aggravated indecent assault against Andrea Constand in April, after multiple women testified in the case claiming to have been drugged and sexually assaulted by the actor.
The length of Cosby’s sentence will be determined by the Philadelphia Department of Corrections. He will also have to pay a fine of $25,000.
“I’m to permitted to treat him any different based on who he is or who he was,” Judge Steven T. O’Neill said during the sentencing.
Cosby’s star is not the first one to cause controversy this year. President Donald Trump’s star on the famous Hollywood landmark has also been the subject of vandalism, and in late July reports surfaced it might be moved to another location.
Despite the reports, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Chamber of Commerce decided at the time that moving the location, or removing Trump’s star would only encourage people to deface other names from the landmark.
The conversations were inspired after multiple instances of protesters breaking the star, with one video going viral of someone destroying it with a pick axe.
After the sentencing, Cosby was seen in handcuffs before being transported to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility for processing, after he will go directly to a Pennsylvania state prison.
