On January 1, 2017, Los Angeles awoke to a cheeky alteration of one of the city’s most iconic landmarks. The Hollywood Sign read “Hollyweed” as fabric draped across the Os turned them into Es.
The prank soon went viral, getting picked up by news outlets worldwide. As images of the sign circulated, many people wanted to know who was behind the stunt. Luckily for them, the artist/prankster left behind his Instagram handle scrawled on the back of the cloth: @jesushands.
The account belongs to Zach Fernandez, who soon took public credit for the caper. Fernandez says he was inspired by an identical prank that took place in 1976.
“One of my buddies posted a sign [on Instagram], and it said Hollyweed. I did a little bit of digging and saw [that in] 1976, Daniel Feingood and some buddies changed the sign to signify the decriminalization of cannabis in California. So I thought there's my sign that I need to change the sign to say Hollyweed.”
Fernandez’s hijinks celebrated California’s full legalization of marijuana that went into effect that same day.
He claims that the operation was challenging to pull off considering the security in place around the sign.
“I get up there, [and] there are security cameras everywhere,” he recalls. “There's a two-way speaker going. … I'm waiting any minute for somebody to come on there and say, ‘Yo, you're trespassing, we're gonna come up. We're gonna send a chopper if you don't leave.’”
Fernandez also underestimated the sheer scale of the sign, which further complicated his efforts.
“When I went to go do the last part of the letter … I couldn't reach it. So I had to use [a] strap, tie it to the bottom, climb down, and luckily, I'm like 6’ 3” and I was able to reach. … I don't think anybody else could have done it, I mean aside from Daniel Feingold.”
After outing himself, Fernandez quickly heard from the police, who he recalls were not too pleased.
“They were going to my ex-wife, saying they're gonna show up at [my] work if you don't come and tell us everything that happened.”
In the end, Fernandez turned himself in to the Hollywood Division of the LAPD. For his transgression, he got a ticket for trespassing and a promise that they’d see him in court.
Now six years later, Fernandez says, “I never heard from [them] again.”
