We’ve reached the end of another week. But before we clock out for the weekend, we’re giving credit where it’s due. Billie Jean King is the latest champion in our Winner of the Week series.
I’m gonna let you in on a little showbiz secret: the Hollywood Walk of Fame stars are for sale. You can’t just buy one for yourself, you have to have made a significant contribution to the entertainment industry, done charity work, and been nominated. But if it seems like stars tend to get them around the time they have something to promote, it’s probably because the companies funding their projects also throw in the $75,000 a star costs. Which isn’t to say that the newest recipient, Billie Jean King, didn’t earn all the plaudits in the world. She totally did. But we here at Winner of the Week cannot be bought! And that’s why our award means the most in the whole world! Right? Right?
No but seriously, it’s very cool that King just became the first woman to receive this honor (and it is an honor) in the sports entertainment category. The category was just added in 2023 (it’s not even listed on the nomination page yet), but still. Hurry up, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce! I want Serena Williams, I want Mia Hamm, I need Simone Biles. “The important things is, I don’t want to be the last one,” King told the crowd, per The Advocate. Well put, icon.
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The best part is that the star unveiling ceremony gave King a day to be celebrated, which she more than deserves. Among her many accomplishments: raising the profile of women’s tennis in the “Battle of the Sexes” match, fighting for equal pay, falling in love with and marrying her doubles partner Ilana Kloss after being outed against her will and becoming a lesbian power couple for the ages, becoming the first out lesbian coach of the United States women’s tennis team, founding the Women’s Tennis Association and the Women’s Sports Foundation, and getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 (another first for a female athlete). Now she and her wife are helping fundraise to get the women’s professional hockey league up and running.
As for the ascendant WNBA, King had the perfect response to those who point to comparatively low viewership numbers. Speaking to Forbes at her star unveiling, King said, “Look how long it’s taken the men. Everyone forgets the history of men’s sports, how long it’s taken, how many failures they had along the way. The NBA almost went under in 1979.”
She was joined at the event by Jamie Lee Curtis and Magic Johnson. In his speech, Johnson praised King for using her platform to fight against sexism and racism, and to promote social justice. Curtis, too, highlighted King’s activism and advocacy, starting with how she persevered after losing all of her sponsorships when she was outed as a lesbian. Curtis spoke from a place of deep gratitude; as the mother of a trans daughter in a same-sex marriage, she was visibly emotional recalling how her friend Billie Jean paved the way for future generations to live and love publicly.
Curtis also pointed out that BJK has a signature style: a black or black and white outfit with a string of pearls and a colored jacket that matches her eyeglasses. Here’s the blue version, red version, pink version, lavender version and purple version.
Should we all copy her outfit and take a pic at the star? Yes? Field trip?
The post Billie Jean King Became the First Female Athlete to Receive This Major Hollywood Honor appeared first on Glamour.
