Look for a list of the greatest college pranks of all time and the infamous 1961 Rose Bowl prank will always. Asked why the new prankster hasn't yet come forward, Finegood joked: 'Maybe he's still on his plane to Amsterdam or Ecuador. The Hollywood sign covered to read Caltech. He wrote: 'I don't know who did this to the Hollywood Sign, but I'm quite impressed they got away with it.'Īfter more than a day with no word about a suspect, the incident is developing into a bit of a Hollywood mystery. Jackass star Steve-O - himself arrested in 2015 for a Hollywood crane protest that included a sign saying 'Seaworld Sucks' - pointed out as much when he took a selfie in front of the 'weed' prank on Sunday. Plastic Jesus, who said he had no involvement in the new prank but has made headlines for his provocative Oscar-themed art in recent years, says he recently spoke with Los Angeles-based street artists who didn't know who would have been behind the new altered sign. 'You want the message to be the focus of the work and not the artist.' 'I think it was great execution that it was done in that way,' said the pseudonymous artist known as Plastic Jesus, when contacted by THR.

He also aspired to do an April Fools' Day joke to make the entire sign disappear into the backdrop of the hillside, but the plan never came to fruition, his son said.įor now, the identity of the new 'Hollyweed' prankster is obscure. He felt it was art and he was trying to tell the world something he believed in and that people were supportive of.'ĭaniel Finegood, who wasn't arrested for the 1976 'Hollyweed' prank and passed away in 2007, would ultimately alter the Hollywood sign four times during his lifetime: to 'Holywood' (also in 1976), 'Ollywood' (in 1987) and 'Oil War' (taken down before the end of a night in 1990). He was doing something that didn't harm the sign. 'So there was a lot of planning.'Īdded Finegood, 'He was adamant that it really wasn't a prank. 'He spent about $50 on giant, four sheets - two black, two white - tied them to some stones, climbed on the sign a little bit to throw the stones and the rope over that was tied to the sheets,' Finegood told THR. When his son, Matthew Finegood, saw images of the new 'Hollyweed' prank he immediately thought it was a throwback to the work of his father. Our concern is the safety of the neighborhood and the trespassers that put themselves at risk because it is extremely unsafe to be on the sign, let alone traversing the treacherous hillside that is home to those 9 famous letters.'įamously, in 1976, the sign was turned into 'Hollyweed' by a then-student named Daniel Finegood and three others for an art project for Cal-State Northridge over the course of several hours. 'This is more than preventing pranks or trespassing at the sign. 'The new year's prank was no exception and we will be deploying additional technology to tighten up surveillance and thus deter unwanted visitors in the future,' said Baumgart. 'The Hollywood Sign surveillance system is constantly evolving but an incident like the one that occurred early Sunday morning shows us where there are opportunities to make improvements,' Chris Baumgart, chairman of the Hollywood Sign Trust, said Monday in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. Back in 2017, a couple of pranksters got past surveillance and sensors and altered the sign to make it read ‘hollyweed’.Who hauled tarps up the Santa Monica Mountains to change an iconic sign to 'Hollyweed' hours before Los Angeles woke up on Sunday? It's a mystery for now.īut the Hollywood Sign Trust, the non-profit organization that oversees maintenance for the landmark, is looking to improve its security in the wake of this rare high-profile prank.

This is not the first time the iconic sign has gotten a facelift. Honestly not the worst Los Angeles crime. AbGesp1JG8įarcical,I love it! Give these guys 15 hours of community service. I pray to this day that someone steals the D to make it hollywoo This tweet will be remembered 10 years into the future

This could be the first Hollyboob we’ve ever seen 👀 Take a look at some of the reactions here: The 98-year-old sign’s brief but hilarious makeover prompted many reactions online. She runs a digital magazine called ‘Shagmag’that features nude photos, and the prank was to draw attention to her dispute with Instagram. That one time I changed the Hollywood sign to #hollyboob /IrIC6DpXHO Rose staged the prank after she was banned from Instagram for violating its policies and posting nearly nude photos.

Hollywood sign prank