This happened just as Mehmet Oz was being attacked in a TV commercial saying that he is too Hollywood.
This star shows how successful Oz was before he quit his TV show to run in the country's top Senate contests.
Rivals are using that same career against him to discredit his TV shows, and his past as an anti-obesity and wellness advocate, in order to raise doubts about his conservative credentials.
At the ceremony, Oz was introduced by Maria Menounos (TV personality) and Dean Cain (actor). He gave a seven-minute speech echoing his campaign trail description of him as a crusader to empower viewers with medical information to challenge medical establishment.
Oz stated that doctors weren't always happy with Oz's plan to have patients from my show educated walk in with extra questions about alternative approaches.
Although he claimed he spoke with a bold, brave voice on his TV show, critics stated he promoted questionable products. He also took on "Big Pharma," chemical corporations, and the federal government.
He also paid tribute to Republican icons, including former Presidents Donald Trump (and Ronald Reagan), who both have stars on The Walk of Fame.
Oz then posed with the star to kiss it and took photos that could be seen on television screens in Pennsylvania.
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce praises Oz for having won 10 Daytime Emmy Awards as well as writing New York Times bestsellers about wellness. After Oz rose to fame as an Oprah Winfrey regular, the show was launched in 2009. It aired the last episode Jan. 14 just seven weeks after Oz declared his candidacy.
For celebrities nominated for stars, the chamber of commerce charges a $50,000 sponsorship fee. However, this price can change at any time. According to the Walk of Fame website, the money goes towards creating and installing the star as well as maintaining the Walk of Fame.
Oz, a long-time resident of Cliffside Park in New Jersey, ran for Senate in Pennsylvania. He said that he now rents a house owned by his inlaws in suburban Philadelphia, Bryn Athyn.
While rivals are trying to doubt his true political views, they point to his 2019 episode on "red Flag laws" that were opposed by gun-rights activists and his support of former President Barack Obama’s health care law, also known as Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act.
Red flag laws allow authorities to arm people believed to pose a threat to themselves or others. Oz suggested on the show that he might support such laws and said that "anonymity is vital" for him.
Oz was featured in an advertisement sponsored by California Endowment in 2010. It promoted the health law and called it a historic opportunity to "make California's health care better for millions, to make healthcare better and more affordable for all."
Another point was that he called Obamacare in 2016 a "very brave attempt to include more Americans into the health care system," but whose effectiveness was hampered by political compromises.
A TV ad is being aired statewide from a Republican rival's super PAC. It warns that "Oz might have the right idea for Hollywood but he's wrong in Pennsylvania." Another describes him as a "Hollywood liberal."
The super PAC supports the former CEO of a hedge fund David McCormick. He, along with Oz, is one of three well-connected and wealthy transplants from different states who are running for the seat in swing-state being vacated this year by two-term Republican Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
Oz's campaign didn't address the criticism that he was too Hollywood for Pennsylvania in a statement. It instead reiterated the campaign's theme that Oz is a free-thinking, health-expert who helps people.
It then repeated its attacks against McCormick, which it is airing on TV. McCormick was trying to portray China as soft because of McCormick's former hedge fund portfolio that favored Chinese investors investing in China.
McCormick's campaign reacted Friday to McCormick, a Bronze Star-winning Army Ranger veteran who served in the Gulf War. McCormick stated that McCormick "has always put America First", while Oz spent his entire life putting Fame & Hollywood First."
