Joe Paterno Loses His Halo On Penn State Mural

Joe Paterno has lost his halo. A mural at Penn State was edited over the weekend to remove the halo that hung above Paterno’s head.

Paterno was recently condemned for “disregarding” the safety of Jerry Sandusky’s victims in the damaging Freeh Report and artist Michael Pilato decided that Joe Pa no longer deserved his halo.

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Pilato added the halo after Paterno’s death in January, but decided to remove it after the Freeh report was released.

Pilato said:

“Sadly, today is one of the hardest things that I’ve done… I had to … I got rid of his halo…. Really, it’s been something I’ve been thinking about since I did it. As a public artist, you’ve got to listen to the public and I started to hear the public, and I wish I hadn’t put (the halo) up there to tell you the truth.”

But Pilato didn’t completely demonize Paterno on the Penn State mural. The artist said that he decided to keep the blue ribbon that was painted on Paterno’s jacket to symbolize support for abuse victims.

The LA Times reports that Pilato completely removed Jerry Sandusky from the rural after the child abuse scandal broke last year. In Sandusky’s place, Pilato painted a blue ribbon in his chair.

The Huffington Post reports that a statue of Paterno may soon be removed from Penn State. Officials are being pressured by the public to remove the statue but said that no decision has been made regarding the statue yet. Nike, however, has already removed Paterno’s name from their child care center.