Tennis legend Billie Jean King made history by becoming the first female athlete to earn a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in the new sports entertainment category. King’s star was the 2,807th to be dedicated on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
King wrote in a social media post: “Today, I became the first woman to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Sports Entertainment category. Words cannot express how honored and grateful l am to receive this star. I have so many people to thank, including the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, @MagicJohnson and Jaime Lee Curtis for their kind, inspiring, and memorable words (snap pants are the next big thing. If you know, you know, right Jaime Lee?), and all the other individuals who made this incredible day possible. I may be the first woman to be awarded a star in this category, but l’m certainly not going to be the last. Let’s keep going for it!”
King is hailed as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, winning 39 grand slam titles and revolutionizing the sport. The legendary tennis star’s ceremony included tributes from her friends Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Jamie Lee Curtis, and also in attendance at King’s ceremony were former tennis stars Rosie Casals, Julie Anthony and Maria Sharapova, current U.S. Open tournament director Stacey Allaster, Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, rapper Flavor Flav and race-car driver Katherine Legge. King, who came out as a lesbian in 1981, has advocated for LGBTQ rights for decades; King’s wife, former tennis player Ilana Kloss, was also in attendance.
King was the first female athlete to receive both the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. She is the founder of both the Women’s Sports Foundation and the Women’s Tennis Association, and is a New York Times best-selling author. King is also part owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Angel City FC and the L.A. Sparks.
King said during the ceremony: “I am very happy I’ve lived this long to see the women sports movement at its tipping point now, you know, at every level. And I thank Title IX in 1972 for that to help make it happen, but I also thank all the investors who really invest in women’s sports now, and it’s a business for them it’s not just a charity, which is huge.”
Earvin “Magic” Johnson said during the ceremony: “She’s an amazing person, and what I love about Billie Jean is that she used her platform to bring about change. When we talk about that ‘Battle of the Sexes’, it was more than just you beating Bobby Riggs. You were fighting for equal pay for women and all these young ladies that are making all these millions and millions of dollars today should be thanking you for what you did for all of them. Even today, you continue to fight for people who know they don’t have the same type of platform that you have, and you rally around them.”
Curtis added: “There is not a woman in any professional sport or any LGBTQ+ human being whose life has not been shaped and helped and supported by this extraordinary woman’s great talents and her even greater contributions to improving the lives of other people on a daily basis … This star today is so much greater and brighter than your sport because like her, your star is about love and allyship and advocacy and enthusiasm and partnership and your fierce devoted belief in equality for all.”
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