You’ve heard the rumors: a celebrity misbehaves, petitions circulate, and suddenly everyone’s asking whether a hollywood walk of fame star removed is actually possible. It’s a fair question, especially when you’re standing on Hollywood Boulevard staring at thousands of names embedded in the sidewalk, wondering how permanent any of them really are, or scanning an interactive map of Hollywood stars to find a specific one.
The short answer is no, not in the way most people assume. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which controls the Walk of Fame, has a strict no removal policy, even when public outrage reaches a boiling point. That said, there’s more nuance to the story, including specific cases where 22 stars removed from hollywood walk of fame headlines circulated online and turned out to be misleading or flat-out false.
In this article, we’ll walk through the real policy behind star removals, the most famous controversies that tested it, and why certain names keep resurfacing in petitions despite the Chamber’s refusal to budge. If you’re planning to see the stars in person, understanding this history adds real context to what you’re looking at, which is exactly the kind of detail our guides love sharing on our small-group walking tours of Los Angeles.
1. Donald Trump’s star and its repeated vandalism
Donald Trump received his star at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard in 2007, long before he became a divisive political figure, for producing and hosting The Apprentice. Once he entered politics, that same star became a lightning rod. Protesters have attacked it with pickaxes, sledgehammers, and spray paint on multiple occasions, most notably in 2018 when a man named James Otis took a pickaxe to the terrazzo and concrete, causing thousands of dollars in damage. Petitions demanding a hollywood walk of fame star removed for Trump have circulated for years, gathering tens of thousands of signatures each time controversy flares.
What sparked calls for removal
Most of the outrage traces back to Trump’s political statements and policies rather than anything tied to his entertainment career, which is technically what the star honors. Critics argue his conduct violates the spirit of an honor meant to celebrate contributions to the entertainment industry, while supporters see the vandalism itself as the real crime.
The Chamber’s official response
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has repeatedly stated that it does not remove stars, period, regardless of a recipient’s later behavior or public sentiment. Leduff, Ana Martinez, who oversees the Walk of Fame, has gone on record saying stars are a permanent part of Hollywood’s history and that removing one would open the door to endless demands over any celebrity someone dislikes.
The Chamber has made its position clear: stars get added to the Walk of Fame, they never get subtracted.
Is the star still there today
Yes, Trump’s star remains embedded on Hollywood Boulevard today, though it’s been repaired so many times that a temporary barrier has occasionally been installed around it during high-tension news cycles. Every act of vandalism has resulted in restoration, not removal, reinforcing that the Chamber’s no-removal stance applies even to its most polarizing honoree.
2. Bill Cosby’s star and the push to remove it
Bill Cosby earned his star at 6712 Hollywood Boulevard in 1977 for his groundbreaking work in television comedy. Decades later, dozens of women came forward with sexual assault allegations spanning back to the 1960s, and Cosby was eventually convicted in 2018, though that conviction was later overturned on a legal technicality. The case became one of the strongest tests yet of whether a hollywood walk of fame star removed for serious criminal conduct might finally break the Chamber’s long-standing policy.
What sparked calls for removal
Public pressure intensified as more accusers spoke out, and activists argued that honoring Cosby on a public sidewalk sent the wrong message to survivors of sexual violence. Petitions specifically called out his star as a symbol that needed to go, distinguishing his case from typical political disputes since it involved criminal allegations rather than opinion.
The Chamber’s official response
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce held firm, reiterating that stars are historical markers, not endorsements of character, and that removing one for any reason would set an unmanageable precedent.
A star reflects a career achievement at the time it was awarded, not a lifetime pass on personal conduct.
Is the star still there today
Cosby’s star remains on the sidewalk, occasionally vandalized but never removed.
3. Kevin Spacey’s star amid misconduct allegations
Kevin Spacey received his star on Hollywood Boulevard in the early 1990s, decades before his career unraveled. In 2017, actor Anthony Rapp and more than a dozen other men accused Spacey of sexual misconduct, some incidents allegedly involving minors. The allegations led to his removal from film projects, the cancellation of House of Cards as he knew it, and renewed calls for a hollywood walk of fame star removed to match the industry’s swift rejection of him elsewhere.
What sparked calls for removal
The sheer volume of accusers, combined with Spacey’s abrupt fall from one of Hollywood’s most bankable names to persona non grata, fueled public demand that his star reflect the same consequences he faced everywhere else. Fans argued that keeping his name embedded in the sidewalk felt tone-deaf given the scale of the misconduct claims.
The Chamber’s official response
The Chamber again declined to act, pointing to the same precedent-setting concerns raised in the Cosby case.
Removing a star for one scandal would obligate the Chamber to revisit hundreds of others.
Is the star still there today
Spacey’s star remains on Hollywood Boulevard, occasionally defaced but never taken up, consistent with every other high-profile controversy the Chamber has weathered.
4. Gregory Peck’s star, the only one ever physically removed
Gregory Peck’s star sits at 6100 Hollywood Boulevard, awarded in 1960 for his decades of work in film, including To Kill a Mockingbird. Unlike the previous entries, his case has nothing to do with scandal or public outrage. It’s the one documented instance of a hollywood walk of fame star removed from its slab, and it happened purely because of construction, not controversy.
What sparked calls for removal
There were no petitions or protests here. During renovation work along that stretch of Hollywood Boulevard, crews needed to pull up the sidewalk section holding Peck’s star to complete infrastructure repairs. It was a logistical necessity, not a moral judgment about his legacy.
The Chamber’s official response
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce treated this as routine maintenance rather than a policy exception. Officials confirmed the star would be reinstalled once construction wrapped, distinguishing physical relocation from the permanent removals activists have demanded in other cases.
Peck’s star proves stars can move for construction, but they still never disappear for controversy.
Is the star still there today
Yes, Gregory Peck’s star was restored to its original spot after the work finished, and it remains there today, unchanged in meaning despite the temporary absence.
5. The 22 stars removed myth, debunked
A viral claim keeps resurfacing online, insisting that 22 stars removed from hollywood walk of fame actually happened, usually attached to some list of disgraced celebrities. It hasn’t. No batch removal of 22 names, or any number of names, has ever taken place on Hollywood Boulevard. The number appears to originate from clickbait roundups that lump together every celebrity who’s ever faced a removal petition, whether or not the Chamber acted on it, then present that tally as if it were a completed purge.
What sparked calls for removal
The confusion likely grew from genuine controversies like Trump’s, Cosby’s, and Spacey’s getting bundled into a single sensational headline, making readers assume do they remove stars from the hollywood walk of fame must be answered with a clear yes somewhere in recent history.
No batch of stars has ever been pulled from the Walk of Fame, no matter how often that number circulates online.
The Chamber’s official response
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has never issued any statement supporting this figure, because there’s nothing to confirm. Their public record shows zero permanent removals tied to scandal, full stop.
Is the star still there today
Every star named in these viral claims, from Cosby to Spacey to dozens of others, remains exactly where it was installed, and you can still find each one on a Hollywood Walk of Fame tour.
The bottom line on Walk of Fame removals
Stars stay put on Hollywood Boulevard no matter who campaigns against them. The Chamber’s no removal policy has survived pickaxes, petitions, and decades of scandal, and Gregory Peck’s brief construction detour remains the only exception on record. The 22 stars removed from hollywood walk of fame headline you keep seeing has no basis in fact, and every controversial name from Cosby to Spacey to Trump is still exactly where the Chamber installed it.
Knowing this history changes how you see the sidewalk once you’re standing on it. Those brass and terrazzo names aren’t quiet endorsements, they’re snapshots of a career at a single moment, permanent regardless of what came after. That’s the kind of context that turns a quick photo stop into something worth remembering.
If you want a guide who can point out these stories star by star, walk the boulevard with us. Reserve a private Hollywood tour with a local guide and get the full history without the guesswork.
