Street Artist Targets Hollywood Ahead of Oscars

A conservative street artist trying to tamper the festivities surrounding Sunday night’s Oscar celebration was only partially successful; most of the 14 fake ads he posted Wednesday that accuse mostly Democrats of facilitating a fentanyl drug crisis had been torn down by Friday.

Street artist Sabo, in the dead of night, put up numerous posters. They featured President Joe Biden, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Rep. Adam Schiff and Sen. Mitch McConnell, the lone Republican of the group, surrounded by a flag-draped casket while China President Xi Jinping showers them with cash. The text reads: “100,000 Fentanyl Deaths a Year.”

One of the artworks stuck on a bus bench in front of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, California. Street artist Sabo has plastered Hollywood and the surrounding area with phony advertisements…

The project cost $10,000, partially paid for by donors. The cost included Sabo flying from his home in Colorado to make his way into the heart of Hollywood. Simultaneously, Sabo’s colleagues struck near California’s Capitol building in Sacramento, where they hung two posters.

“So far, everyone involved is happy with the project,” Sabo told Newsweek.

Sabo, who sells his work at UnsavoryAgents.com, said that he and an assistant worked early Wednesday in Hollywood. While in the past he has disguised himself as a legitimate worker of some sort, it wasn’t the case this time around. The few cops who cruised by didn’t stop to ask questions.

Sabo is a frequent critic of the entertainment industry, accusing it of leftism and hypocrisy through his artwork. He said he struck in and around the Oscar venue five days ahead of Sunday’s show at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood for maximum effect.

Sabo also wanted to target the district represented by Schiff, who is running for the U.S. Senate in California against Steve Garvey, a former star of the Los Angeles Dodgers and a Republican.

While Sabo’s fake ads don’t specifically attack the folks who will be honored at the Academy Awards, the artist said that Hollywood has helped fuel the fentanyl crisis by bending a knee to China. The industry allowed the Chinese Communist Party to censor scenes in certain movies, or add content favored by the CCP.

“Mexico and China are the primary source countries for fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances trafficked directly into the United States,” according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.

For the Oscars on March 10, 2024, a chainlink fence surrounds the Dolby Theatre to keep fans and potentially protesters at bay. One street artist put up fake ads in the vicinity of the venue.

Paul Bond, Newsweek

While in town, Sabo also attended the premiere of Hollywood Takeover: China’s Control in the Film Industry, a documentary that makes the case that film studios are kowtowing to the CCP to get their films into the country.

While Sabo was circling the Dolby Theatre and surrounding areas with his giant posters, workers were readying the enormous red carpet that celebrities will grace on Sunday. They also fenced in the area, as is customary, to keep fans at bay.

The chainlink fencing is also meant to keep protesters away as, like Sabo, they tend to be attracted to high-profile events. At last month’s Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, for example, pro-Palestine activists disrupted traffic.

The Los Angeles Police Department is expected to beef up its patrols of the area to keep would-be disruptors away from the festivities, and about 2,000 private security guards will also be on hand.

Update, 3/10/2024 at 1:10 a.m. ET: The article was updated to clarify funding.