Controversial Marilyn Monroe statue in Palm Springs to be moved — again
A 26-foot-tall Marilyn Monroe statue, modeled after one of her most famous scenes from "The Seven Year Itch," is set to be moved yet again.
(KTLA/NEXSTAR) – A 26-foot-tall Marilyn Monroe statue, modeled after one of her most famous scenes from "The Seven Year Itch," is set to be moved yet again after three years in Palm Springs, California — but this time it won't be going too far.
The statue, "Forever Marilyn" by Seward Johnson, is currently located in the middle of the pedestrian-only road Museum Way, which is adjacent to downtown Palm Springs and is near the Palm Springs Art Museum. It's been there since June 2021, and has garnered some controversy for its risqué nature and for potentially blocking view of the museum.
Specifically, critics took offense to the statue's placement in front of the museum, with her rear end facing the entrance.
“Placing a hyper-sexualized, misogynist statue of Marilyn at the entrance to the elegant Palm Springs Art Museum sends a message to the community, its visitors (especially young, innocent children), and tourists that this somehow represents ‘the real Marilyn,’” a 2021 Change.org petition urged, after the Palm Springs City Council announced plans to move Forever Marilyn to its current spot.
The organizers of the petition, at the time, further alleged that Monroe herself would not have appreciated the statue, having fought to become more than just a sex symbol during her Hollywood career.
The statue had previously been displayed in downtown Palm Springs between 2012–2014, before being relocated for exhibitions in other parts of the country, including Chicago, New Jersey and Connecticut. Its temporary placement in the latter — the statue was facing away from a church — also caused a bit of a stir in 2018.
“Maybe the city would let us give her some pants?” Rev. Dr. Todd Grant Yonkman, the pastor of the church, joked to the Associated Press at the time.
Before moving the statue back to Palm Springs in 2021, the Palm Springs City Council acknowledged that Forever Marilyn would likely be standing in the new location — on Museum Way — for three years before relocation. Mayor Jeffrey Bernstein confirmed that to be the case last month, saying the city had reached a deal with the hospitality group that licensed the statue and those pushing to move it off Museum Way.
It will soon be moving to nearby Downtown Park, which is adjacent to the pedestrian thoroughfare.
“The City Council is very pleased to have found a satisfactory solution to this issue, which has divided so many within our community," the mayor wrote.
More specific details of the future location of Forever Marilyn will be settled sometime this month, the statement explained.