LOS ANGELES (KTLA) – A mural of George Floyd painted outside The Laugh Factory in Hollywood was vandalized, a spokesperson for the comedy club said.
The vandalism likely occurred sometime late Sunday or early Monday, according to Greg Waskul, communications director for The Laugh Factory.
The mural outside the famous club has been defaced five times in the past year that it’s been up, Waskul told KTLA. This time was the worst, he says, with the most extensive damage done yet.
The mural — which used to depict an image of Floyd along with the title, “We the People,” and names of other Black people killed by police — now looks like someone tossed white paint at it and brushed over it.
“It’s a lot of paint, a lot of work and a lot of hate,” Waskul said.
The Laugh Factory is a sanctuary for people, where they can feel safe, Waskul said, and it’s always been a welcoming place for the past 40 years.
“That’s why it’s so hard this happened there,” he added. “It’s just sick. It’s a terrible thing.”
The club has been at the forefront of diversity in comedy, with shows that appeal to virtually every audience, every ethnicity and gender, Waskul said, while many clubs in town were not that diverse. And during the last year and a half, throughout the pandemic, many social justice events were hosted there, he said.
The Los Angeles Police Department took a vandalism report and the investigation is ongoing, the department told KTLA.