Street Artist Sabo Takes Cue From 'Three Billboards' To Fire Shots At Hollywood
Street artist Sabo blasts the entertainment industry's treatment of sexual allegations with a trio of billboards inspired by the film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
The Los Angeles-based artist takes unconventional measures to get his message across to Hollywood just days before the Academy Awards show takes place.
3 Billboards In Hollywood
The three billboards relay a pointed message with phrases referencing Tinseltown's ongoing movement against sexual predators. Sabo tells The Hollywood Reporter that his work is meant to criticize the people who kept quiet and, in effect, empowered the sexual offenders in the industry.
"The Oscar for biggest pedophile goes to..." one sign reads.
"We all knew and still no arrests," a second one says. The final one goes, "Name names on stage or shut the hell up!"
THREE BILLBOARDS OVER OSCAR ... pic.twitter.com/dwMBuk9Yo7 — unsavoryagents (@unsavoryagents) February 28, 2018
The artist also points out to Entertainment Weekly that no one has been arrested among the many alleged predators in Hollywood. He adds that if celebrities are really serious with the #MeToo and Time's Up movement, they'll speak out during the upcoming awards show.
"Instead of putting down Trump during the show, how about you hold your own industry's feet to the fire?" Sabo says.
The artist chose a strategic location for his statement, putting up the signages just a few miles from Dolby Theatre, where the 2018 Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, March 4.
The first sign is on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and La Brea Avenue, with the next two north of it. The three billboards are a few hundred yards apart each. Sabo reveals that six other men helped him to install the billboards.
Sabo's Street History
While he says this is his biggest mission so far, it is not the first time Sabo has garnered public attention for his controversial work. In November, he also altered a poster of The Greatest Showman so it shows Senator Al Franken grabbing Zendaya.
Franken is accused of sexual harassment and has since stepped down.
Inspired By The Poignant Film 'Three Billboards'
If the signs look familiar, it's because Sabo lifted the look of his work from the Best Picture nominee Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
The movie stars Frances McDormand, whose character put up angry billboards across her town similar to the ones Sabo installed in Hollywood. In the film, the billboards are directed against the local police, who failed to capture her daughter's killer and rapist.
