The 1st sun of 2017 rises over Los Angeles while residents awoke on New Year’s Day to find a prankster had altered the famed Hollywood sign to read “Hollyweed”.
Social media users quickly noticed the new sign, and used Twitter to express their surprise tweeting on the hashtag [#Hollyweed]. In less than 4hrs the hashtag recorded 17,932,830 reach and 17,962,663 impressions on Twitter alone!
Wake up to this in Los Angeles….. #HollyWeed pic.twitter.com/k8TLVBJZah
— Adam Silverstëin (@asilversteinTV) January 1, 2017
#hollyweed – that's were I get my mail. #merryjane pic.twitter.com/t5YgjAcEVv
— Snoop Dogg (@SnoopDogg) January 1, 2017
Someone managed to change the Hollywood sign to say "Hollyweed" – 2017 starting off strong 😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/KPhiPAPgHo
— Jon (@MrDalekJD) January 1, 2017
Someone has vandalised the Hollywood sign to read 'Hollyweed'
So 2017 is already a better year than 2016 pic.twitter.com/3FTM466GdX
— Calum Shambolic (@ShambolicCalum) January 1, 2017
The timing of the “Hollyweed” prank is not incidental: Recreational marijuana became legal in California on Sunday after voters approved Proposition 64, or the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, in November.
Local media reported that police were treating the incident as minor trespass and were investigating while The Los Angeles Times reports that a single person was recorded on security cameras climbing the sign to hang the materials.
https://twitter.com/KeeganAllen/status/815620852108566528
A similar prank took place in 1976, to mark a relaxation in the state’s marijuana laws. For nearly 100 years, the sign has been both a fixture in Hollywood Hills and a touchstone of Tinseltown’s popular culture power. Ironically, the “Hollywood” sign, was defaced in 1976 for a similar purpose.
