If you think the stars are just given away like sample donuts in Krispy Kreme, you couldn't be more wrong.
There is a long list of activity before anyone, legendary, famous, or trite, gets a star. I wouldn't like to get into detail on the whole process, but vaguely: there is a committee who meets and decide which artist should get a star. Then the artist gets shortlisted. The artist's representatives are then informed, and if they shall accept, their nomination is publicized. It will then take up to years before the artists can actually get their star on the walk, for one reason or another. Also, if the artists accept the nomination, someone, either the artist or a close friend or his/her fans, should pay up a sum of, wait for it, 25,000 US Dollars! Then, after that, the artist must agree to appear in public for the unveiling of the star. If all is well, a date is set on when the artist will get that star.
Celebrities such as Julia Roberts, Russell Crowe, and legendary Clint Eastwood don't have stars, and probably they smell something wrong with all this shenanigan. Apparently they just "refused to participate." Which just doesn't make sense. Someone as legendary and great as Eastwood should have a star of his own. Hollywood could not have not possibly forget his Spaghetti Westerns!
Oh, well. That's Hollywood for you. Now doesn't it sound like pure gimmickry? Well, for me it does. I can understand though, that anyone who gets a star should pay up for the lifetime maintenance of The Walk. But then again, the star is an honor. And it feels funny to pay for that honor. It's like paying the Integrated Bar to become a lawyer. The Walk is a tourist attraction, and I bet there is a better way to get that maintenance fee some way. Mind, 25K is bit too stiff even for these raking artists.
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