Donald trump you can do anything to women when you're a star
Executive summary
The phrase "and when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything" comes from a 2005 recording in which Donald Trump made lewd remarks about women, including "Grab them by the pussy," that were published by The Washington Post and NBC in 2016; the tape reignited scrutiny of his treatment of women and provoked sustained media coverage and political backlash [1] [2] [3]. Reporting across outlets documents a long pattern of derogatory comments and portrayals of women by Trump, while debates continue over whether the remarks reflect private braggadocio, legal wrongdoing, broader cultural harm, or political theater [4] [5] [6].
1. Origin of the line: a hot-mic tape from 2005 made public in 2016
The sentence in question appears in the Access Hollywood recording from September 2005, captured on a bus with Billy Bush and later published by The Washington Post and NBC in October 2016, in which Trump said "I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab 'em by the pussy" while describing sexual advances [1] [3] [2].
2. What the tape documented, verbatim and widely reported
Multiple mainstream outlets transcribed the exchange and highlighted both the "when you're a star" line and the explicit "grab them" phrase, reproducing the language as central evidence of the recording's lewdness and Trump's conduct on the tape [7] [4] [2].
3. Immediate political and cultural fallout in 2016 and after
The publication of the tape prompted broad condemnation, apologies from Trump for "causing offense," and renewed allegations from several women who said he had groped or assaulted them; it also became a campaign flashpoint and spawned activist responses such as online boycotts against Trump-related products [3] [1] [6].
4. Interpretations and defenses: consent, context, and "locker room talk"
Some defenders and analysts framed the remarks as crude "locker room talk" or argued that the full context implied consensual encounters, while critics and many outlets treated the language as evidence of predatory attitudes; the debate about literal versus cultural meaning featured prominently in coverage [1] [2] [8].
5. The phrase as shorthand for power, entitlement, and normalization of misogyny
Journalistic retrospectives and critics have used the "when you're a star" line to illustrate how celebrity status can be framed by powerful men as permission to act without consent, and to argue that such rhetoric contributes to a broader pattern of degrading, sexualized commentary about women documented over decades [6] [5] [9].
6. Legal vs. rhetorical consequences: what the tape proved and what it did not
The recording is an audio record of boasting and admission of non-consensual behavior was alleged by multiple women afterward, but the tape itself is not a legal conviction; reporting notes it led to public and political consequences rather than direct criminal adjudication tied solely to that recording [3] [1] [4].
7. Ongoing relevance: why the line resurfaces in coverage
Outlets and compilations of Trump's comments routinely quote the Access Hollywood line when assessing his record on women because it succinctly encapsulates accusations of entitlement and catalyzed subsequent stories, analyses, and activism about his language and behavior toward women [10] [11] [6].
8. Competing viewpoints and limits of reporting
While many sources characterize the phrase as emblematic of sexist behavior and link it to later allegations and political fallout, some defenders emphasize context or dismiss it as braggadocio; reporting here reflects those competing framings but cannot, on the basis of the provided sources alone, adjudicate private intent beyond what is on tape or beyond reported allegations [1] [2] [6].