Police on Monday arrested six people who climbed steep, rocky terrain and changed the iconic Hollywood sign to read “Hollyboob.”
“’HOLLYBOOB,’ the sign briefly read, with a big tarp with the letter ‘B’ on it thrown over the ‘W’ and a strategically placed white dash to make the ‘D’ another ‘B,'” The Los Angeles Times reported.
Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Capt. Steve Lurie, the Hollywood area commander, told the Times that police security personnel saw five men and one woman on video surveillance about 1:15 p.m. A police helicopter was dispatched to the area, and “flight crew were able to watch the group move back down the hill to a location on Mulholland Highway — where other officers and park rangers met them with handcuffs.”
All six will be cited with misdemeanor trespassing and released, Lurie told the paper. “There’s no vandalism, because the sign wasn’t damaged,” he said.
According to Deadline, one of those arrested told an LAPD officer that the stunt was intended to raise awareness for breast cancer.
But the Daily Mail reported that that wasn’t the motive, noting that MTV reality star Julia Rose was among the six arrested. “Rose told DailyMail.com she orchestrated the stunt in protest over censorship, after her Instagram account, with five million followers, was suspended this year for nudity.”
“The 27-year-old, who is best known for her appearing on MTV’s reality show Are You the One? and also dated notorious YouTube star Jake Paul until last year, pulled off the stunt with the help of YouTube prankster Jack Tenney, who was also arrested,” said the Mail.
THEY DID IT! HOLLYBOOB! HOLLYBOOB! YES! THEY DID IT! YES! THEY DID IT! https://t.co/wQnYqNkLxf
— Danny (Team Monkey) (@danreguinho) February 2, 2021
“This was to show them that I still have a voice,” Rose told DailyMail.com. “My business for Shagmag with almost one million followers also got disabled this year due to nudity, but I’m not doing anything more than what Playboy is doing so I think they’re discriminating against my accounts.”
Tenney said the pair, with their four accomplices, don’t know why initial reports said the group had organized to raise breast cancer awareness, but they are happy something positive has come from their stunt.
“At the very least, we couldn’t be more happy for the cause that it has become about based upon today’s headlines. I’ll take all the positive out of that,” he said.
The sign, which is 350 feet long and features letters 45 feet high, was originally erected in 1923 as a temporary advertisement for a local real estate development. It has been deemed a historic landmark and is maintained by a group called the Hollywood Sign Trust.
Trust chairman Mark Panatier told the Times that altering the sign is wrong, adding “it’s unfortunate that such an important icon for the city of LA is not being appreciated.”
“This is an icon that’s there for visual reinforcement of the importance of Hollywood, not just for the city of L.A. but to the world,” he said. “It needs to be upheld, it doesn’t need to be demeaned.”
It’s not the first time the sign has been altered. In 2017, the sign was changed to read “Hollyweed” when tarps were used to alter both “O” letters” to “E.”