Ben’s Chili Bowl Paints Over Bill Cosby/Obama Mural (UPDATE)

UPDATE: You can now head over to Ben’s website to vote for who will be on the new mural…surprisingly, some notable names are missing from that list (which you can add yourself)…

From Washingtonian:

Ben’s Chili Bowl has removed a mural that features alleged sexual predator Bill Cosby from the side of its U Street restaurant. White paint now covers a series of portraits that also included Barack Obama, Donnie Simpson, and Chuck Brown.

Co-owner Nizam Ali says backlash against Cosby—perhaps Ben’s most famous customer until Obama visited in 2009—had absolutely nothing to do with the mural’s removal.

“The mural went up in 2012. It’s 2017. New mural, new year,” Ali says. “It’s time to put something new up. It’s time to spring forth a good message of peace and unity.”

W.Ellington Felton, an artist in residence at Ben’s, tells Washingtonian he helped lead the removal effort, which took place over Wednesday night and early Thursday morning. Asked why Ben’s removed it now, he said, “Obama’s not in office. It’s the end of an era.”