UPDATE at 5 p.m. PT: After being contacted by TheWrap, we were informed the billboard was taken down.
An HBO billboard was spotted in a very conspicuous place: Covering up one of the many murals to the late Los Angeles Lakers’ star Kobe Bryant.
The mural was located near The Grove in Los Angeles’ Fairfax district. The HBO billboard was first shared on Twitter by Patrick Muldowney, The Ringer’s senior director of social video.
The white mural doesn’t even cover up the Kobe mural completely; the golden “frame” of mural can be seen peeking out from behind the billboard.
Where there used to be a Kobe mural, there’s now an HBO billboard.
It doesn’t even fully cover the Kobe painting. https://t.co/vOj0AW8lr5 pic.twitter.com/vhpaUYzYqx
— patrick (@muldowney) June 16, 2020
Bryant and his teenage daughter Gianna were killed with seven others in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, on Jan. 26. The group was on their way to a basketball practice at Bryant’s Mamba Academy in nearby Thousand Oaks. He’s survived by his wife Vanessa and three other daughters: Natalia, 17; Bianca, 3; and baby Capri.
Shortly after his death, murals and other tributes quickly sprung up all throughout Los Angeles, and many remained untouched during the past few weeks of protests against police brutality. Bryant played his entire 20-year career with the hometown Lakers, winning five championships and adored throughout the city.
Muldowney’s tweet was met with widespread derision directed at HBO and WarnerMedia for choosing to cover up the mural of Bryant with an advertisement. As you can see in the image, it doesn’t fully cover up the edges of the mural.