Iconic sign turns 100, but L.A.’s in no mood to party
LOS ANGELES — This city’s most famous landmark, a glorified billboard for an exclusionary housing development, was never supposed to last 100 years.
Yet its 45-foot-tall, stark white letters have loomed over Los Angeles for about that long, since before movies were talkies, their century-long sentry one of the few constants in a place roiling with change.
The Hollywood sign marks its centennial this year. It remains the most potent symbol of America’s dream factory, a beacon for all who come to Los Angeles seeking fame and fortune. In a place bursting with stars, the sign is the city’s most-photographed subject, its image distilling all the magic of moviemaking into a single vista.
But Los Angeles, which knows how to throw a party, is in no mood to celebrate the historic milestone. These days, this company town is in sour spirits, especially when it comes to anything even remotely associated with “the industry.” Hollywood’s writers and actors have spent months on strike, highlighting the business’s labor practices and the staggering sums raked in by studio bosses. The end of the writers’ strike in September did little to dissipate the anger.
At the same time, city leaders have concentrated civic energy on combating the homelessness crisis, rendering gauche the idea of devoting resources to the feting of an inanimate object. Plus, there is deep disagreement over how Los Angeles should recognize the sign’s big year, with the most ambitious idea — illuminating it like in the old days — already the subject of fierce debate.
So for now, the sign and its boosters have been left with a minimal honor: a morning ceremony at Los Angeles City Hall on Tuesday, where council members declared it to be Hollywood Sign Day. The day, though, will always be better known by another name: Halloween.
“The Hollywood sign is important to the entire fabric of Los Angeles,” said Jeff Zarrinnam, the chairman of the Hollywood Sign Trust, which maintains the sign. “It is the symbol of Los Angeles; it is the symbol of California; it is the symbol of America. It is our Statue of Liberty.”
The sign’s backers had grand plans to celebrate its once-unexpected centennial: a gala, a film festival, a miniature model to be carted around the city. At the very least, they hoped to illuminate the sign once more.
But most of those ideas have been tabled or delayed. The lighting issue in particular is “a political hot potato,” Zarrinnam said. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, on his final day in office, issued an executive directive that allowed the sign to be lit up to six times a year.
After backlash from influential Hollywoodland residents, whose homes are now among the most coveted in L.A.’s exorbitant real estate market, Garcetti’s replacement, Karen Bass, quickly rescinded the directive. Her office cited concerns about the order’s legality; it did not respond to questions about the mayor’s stance on sign illumination.
Promoting the landmark has always been contentious in the community surrounding it, where heavy traffic drawn by the sign regularly clogs streets, and adventurous tourists traipse through yards of private Tudor and Spanish colonial homes.
“We’ve sort of been invaded,” said Christine O’Brien, the president of the Hollywoodland Homeowners Association and a resident since 1980. And every time the sign is lit, she said, it gets worse. “It attracts every crazy person in town. It becomes like a party, like a free-for-all. Every time it’s illuminated, we have issues.”
FRANKFURT, Germany — Travis Kelce declined to discuss Taylor Swift’s status for Sunday’s game in Germany — and their status as a couple.
The Chiefs tight end spoke Friday at a press conference but wouldn’t say whether the pop star plans to attend the game against the Miami Dolphins at Deutsche Bank Park.
“When I mention or everybody knows that she’s at the game, the Vegas, the over under on my catches kind of goes up and down, the spread goes up and down,” Kelce joked. “I don’t want to mess with any of that stuff, so I’m just going to keep it to myself.”
The Chiefs arrived Friday morning and practiced at the campus of the German national soccer team in Frankfurt.
Kelce was asked for his relationship status and if he’s “in love” — which drew oohs and chuckles.
“The latest status is I got to see her last week,” he good-naturedly replied.
The reporter repeated the second part. “I’m going to keep my personal relationship personal,” Kelce said.
Swift is scheduled to resume her Eras Tour on Thursday in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has three shows at Estadio River Plate followed by six dates in two cities in Brazil later this month.
She was not at the Chiefs game at Denver last week. The Broncos won 24-9.
Kelce has averaged 108 yards receiving in the four games Swift has attended — and less than half that in the three games she did not.
The tight end had a 12-catch performance for 179 yards and a touchdown in a 31-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers two weeks ago, when Swift danced with Brittany Mahomes, wife of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, in an Arrowhead Stadium suite. “I think it’s pretty much a coincidence,” Kelce said Friday. “I’ve had some pretty big games in my career.”
Swift has never performed at Deutsche Bank Park. Her tour includes seven shows sin three German cities — all in July.