On Monday, social media influencer Julia Rose changed the Hollywood sign to read “HOLLYBOOB” as a part of an act of vandalism. The group of iconoclasts she was with at the time has led to her being charged with violating the sign, which is considered an iconic landmark. Rose has been gaining more media attention lately, and she recently spoke to Daily Mail about a prank she pulled as a way of protesting censorship. Her Instagram account had been suspended for violating the platform’s policy on nudity, so she decided to orchestrate the stunt as a way of speaking out against censorship.
Before she found fame on MTV’s reality show, Are You the One?, Rose was already well-known in certain circles. She gained notoriety after dating YouTube prankster Jake Paul. Although she could have aligned herself with Paul, choosing instead to partner up with YouTube prankster Jack Tenney led to both of their arrests after they vandalized the Hollywood sign.
Rose posted a photo of herself posing in front of the completed vandalism to Twitter, revealing the crime. She also lifted her middle finger to the camera in outrage, after facing censorship for posting nude content on Instagram last year.
“This was to show them that I still have a voice,” she said. “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 was ecstatic when Rose told him about the vandalism opportunity. The YouTube prankster candidly said that he “couldn’t turn down the chance” to assist Rose in destroying the well-known Hollywood sign.
“She inspired people with her content, and Facebook didn’t give her any warning or anything and just took away her entire livelihood. It will make you lose sleep.”
Tenney and Rose, along with four other people, vandalized the famous sign.
Despite being arrested for destroying public property, Rose is elated with all the attention she has received from her crime.
“We tried pulling it off twice in October. The first time we had two giant tarps that weighed 200 pounds each that we tried going uphill with. So we nixed that idea and decided to go from the top down,” Rose stated.
Tenney explained that the best way to vandalize something was to work “from the top down.”
“We put it all in a stroller with a fake baby on top and a nice blanket to cover the stroller,” he stated. “That’s the only way we pulled this off unseen was with a baby stroller and taking it to the top.”
The Hollywood Sign Trust took to Twitter to express their condemnation of the recent act of vandalism, “Earlier today, the Sign’s security and video monitoring system recorded a vandalism attempt. There are those who think modifying the Sign is fun, but this renowned icon should be appreciated, not demeaned. Thank you @LAPDHollywood & @LAParkRangers_.”
What are your thoughts on this prank?
