Sponge Bob nearly got his square pants kicked off after apparently saying something to two women on Hollywood Boulevard. Whatever the comment, the women seemed to have a complaint--the star from under the sea taking a few hits by "USC" outside Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
TMZ happened to be onhand – in what appears to be extremely coincidental timing and perspective, allowing the media outlet of sorts to capture the whole scene on video of Sponge Bob taking a beatdown by the two women. While cops were called, amazingly no one got arrested despite footage of the two women beating the pants off the Spongebob character. All might've been fine for the character, before he suddenly learned how women fight -- by pulling hair. Spongebob's 'hair' got yanked, and he got doubled over, as two women disgraced Nickelodeon's star.
The absolute funniest part of the TMZ video footage is right near the end, when LAPD cops have Sponge Bob and the two women with their hands on a vehicle -- only it's not just any vehicle. It's one of the infamous, hated (by residents), red Hollywood buses that's slated for the droves of tourists and out-of-towners whom infiltrate Los Angeles on a daily basis -- in efforts to see those Hollywood celebs and stars. Watch the video through to the end, for an unforgettable shot of Spongebob with his hands up, prepared for possible arrest, forced against a tour bus.
And, for once, the scene didn’t have to do with Spider Man. The other Hollywood character has racked up his own surplus of complaints from Hollywood residents and tourists. In a strange city law, the streetside characters are allowed to receive what are dubbed ‘tips’ – but can’t demand payment. There seems to be a fine line – and problems related to methods used in requesting those ‘tips’.
The result: There’s been numerous complaints filed against the characters who line Hollywood streets to solicit tourists in front of the Chinese theater. They’ve been called obnoxious, in one of the nicer descriptions. Only a year ago, the City Council was considering throwing them off Hollywood street unless the characters did a fast clean-up act compared to previous behavior.
The latest Sponge Bob episode marks the third major complaint against the characters of Hollywood Boulevard in recent times. In August ‘Captain America’ got himself hauled away by LAPD cops after allegations of sexual groping during a photo opp, with tourists, in September.
This Spongebob should’ve stayed under the sea – where it’s safer than those ‘dangerous’ Hollywood streets: The impersonator’s back on the boulevard, but is apparently working undercover. That Sponge Bob now works as a different character streetside.
About a year and a half ago, ‘Spider Man’ – or one ‘Spider Man’ anyway -- was arrested on criminal warrants after cops say the character slugged a guy on Hollywood Boulevard. The only problem: There’s no limit on multiplying characters. Cops had their pick of several Spider Men working the boulevard. Lucky for LAPD, officers got lucky on their second pick of the character litter.
The 'Spider Man' arrest seems to prove that people in ‘character’ just may have other things going on in life – like those that lead to a reason for them being in costume. Consider the 'Cookie Monster'-slash-sex offender who tipped off his own parole officer as to his presence on Iowa state fairgrounds. Apparently he had a hard time getting a job out of costume.
Unfortunately for this ‘Spider Man,' he happened to have a couple outstanding warrants when cops found the super hero – and that meant over five grand in bail. Fortunately for ‘Spider Man’, the guy hit on Hollywood Boulevard wasn’t interested in pressing charges.
Super heroes in Hollywood have been a frequent source of complaints: In 2007, local law enforcement held what was dubbed the “Super Hero Summit” – a meeting designed to cut the constant tension between people stuffed into polyester character suits and those whom perform on the street. A ‘wookiee’ prompted the meeting. It turns out the Star Wars character had a personal issue with a tour guide who was complaining about the wookiee’s treatment of Japanese tourists. The ‘wookiee’ had a response – the Star Wars character head-butted the tour guide over the complaint.
‘Mr. Incredible’, ‘Elmo’ and the forbidding ‘Scream’ movie character have all had complaints filed – and been arrested by LAPD for getting a bit overly-aggressive with California tourists. To cap it off, a ‘Freddie Krueger’ was dragged in by cops after a complaint he’d stabbed someone. Yes, really.
This Sponge Bob-got-beat snapshot shows the Hollywood scene that went down, after 'Sponge Bob' went down. No, it's not Photoshop -- it's the real deal, with swarming cop cars and a face-up cartoon character in the street. As to its owner: Look for a cop car.