Karen Bass, mayor of Los Angeles, shot down the project to keep the Hollywood sign lit in 2023 10 days after it was approved by outgoing mayor Eric Garcetti. 

"I hereby rescind Executive Directive No. 36. There is no replacement," Bass wrote to department heads, according to a copy of the memo reviewed by the Los Angeles Times.

Before his term ended, Garcetti had authorized an 18-month pilot program to allow the sign to be illuminated. The authorization stipulated that the sign could be lit no more than six times a year and for no more than three days at a time.]

The Hollywood Sign Trust, the nonprofit that manages the sign, stated that it has "tested new technology" and demonstrated that it "can focus the lights and help reduce the impact of the lights on wildlife and ambient light on local residents."

However, despite efforts to illuminate the iconic Hollywood sign, the local community expressed concern, prompting the current mayor to rescind the order on grounds of doubt as to "its legality," according to the Los Angeles Times.

Since its construction in 1978, the Hollywood sign has not had its own lighting system. However, it has been temporarily illuminated during the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the arrival of the new millennium.