We’ve had a couple of post this year on The Movie Blog about some silly additions to the Walk of Fame. Godzilla?!?! Yesterday, Jim Slotek wrote an insightful article on the ridiculous state of the walk in Jam Showbiz.
In the article he recalls some of the true giants of the entertainment world who are immortalized there and then laments the fact that these days ANYONE can get on there. People like:
In recent years, further diluting the now-dubious “honour,” they’ve added David Spade, Britney Spears, the Olsen Twins, Michael Bolton, Regis Philbin and Journey.
And just when you thought the devolution of stardom had pretty much been achieved came last week’s latest inductee to the Hollywood Walk Of Fame: (drumroll please) Ryan Seacrest!
Ryan Seacrest!?!?! A guy who hosts a reality show?!?! You’ve got to be kidding me! No disrespect to Seacrest himself (hell, I don’t deserve a star on the walk of fame either!), but that is nuts.
The article goes on to talk about the diluting of the walk. No longer does it take a legendary career in entertainment to get on the walk… oh no. Here’s what it takes to get immortalized with John Wayne and Johnny Carson:
The fee down there is $15,000 U.S. — an inflation rate of 500% since way back when I first found out these things were for sale (all these details are laid out, along with an application form, on the website for the Hollywood Chamber Of Commerce, the businessfolk who administer the Walk Of Fame). What do they do with the money? It sure isn’t earmarked for urban renewal. And yes, I can hear Paris Hilton now (“Just $15,000? Ohmigod, I’ll take six!”).
Yeah, a lot of people have know for a long time the stars on the walk were just for sale… but like Santa Clause being a myth, or Pro Wrestling being fake… I just didn’t want to believe it.
It’s a good article that you should go give a read.
Actually some of the jokes and situations are pretty funny, but mostly due to Elizabeths performance, wait this movie…….
Walk of Shame (2014) Movie Review
There is some sort of sponsorship or approval process as well as the money. But I do think that the money makes the approvals a lot easier…
Do they have BLOG stars on HOLLYWOOD BLVD?
I live in CA – barely 30 miles away from Hollywood and when this story broke I nearly a gave the biggest sigh of my life.
Ryan Seacrest is a joke. He started out as a local LA radio host and then moved to TV to host various shows and finally American Idol. Of all the undeserving people to receive a star he is the absolute worst!
It’s sickening how the “Walk of Fame” has been cheapened.
Now anyone who’s been in the business for 5 years, gets enough signatures on a petition and has the cash can get this once prestigious honor.
Carrot Top has a star on the Walk of Fame.
Soon, so will Paris Hilton, no kidding. I predictt it will happen to promote the next season of The Simple Life. (Yes, there exists a petition to give her one.)
I see the Walk of Fame’s ongoing devolution to whoredom representing what Hollywood itself is today. It’s run mostly by PR firms and money.
I discovered this about the time of your Godzilla post John, and I think it’s obscene. There are movie stars on that walk, and I mean movie stars in the proper sense of the word, like Marilyn Monroe, Rock Hudson, Humphrey Bogart, that kind of person, they are movie icons and legends. Now you can just go and buy one…even I could. That cheapens the real stars images, similar to the advertising posts I’ve done before.
Yeah, I saw the presentation on “American Idol”. At first I thought it was a self-indulgent joke, but then….
Yeesh.
It used to mean something a long time ago, but now…
Vic