After years of controversy and a prolonged legal battle, a well-known Palm Springs tourist attraction is set to relocate. The Forever Marilyn statue, a 26-foot tribute to Monroe's iconic skirt scene from the 1955 film "The Seven Year Itch," has been a point of contention among locals and visitors since its return to Palm Springs in 2021. Currently, the statue stands at the edge of Downtown Park, with Monroe's sculpted back facing the Palm Springs Art Museum, LA Times reported.
Palm Springs Mayor Jeffrey Bernstein announced that the statue will be moved to a "location to be determined within Downtown Park." He stated, "The City Council is very pleased to have found a satisfactory solution to this issue, which has divided so many within our community."
However, the statue's relocation will not be far; the park spans just 1.5 acres, and the statue will remain within its boundaries.
Fashion designer Trina Turk was one of the leading voices advocating for the statue's relocation.
A GoFundMe page managed by Turk, which raised over $115,000 to lobby the city to move the statue, expressed cautious optimism in a recent update. "There are still many details to be resolved and a legally binding agreement to be worked out," the post read. "We will not consider this a done deal until the statue is moved to its new location."
The statue initially left Palm Springs in 2014 before returning in 2021. "Good news because good riddance," remarked Times art critic Christopher Knight in 2014.
During the debate over the statue's placement in 2021, Palm Springs Art Museum Executive Director Louis Grachos expressed concerns to the council that museum visitors, especially schoolchildren, would have to pass by Marilyn's backside and underwear on their way to and from the museum.
Despite community protests and critics like Knight, who called the statue sexist, the City Council approved its location for three years starting in 2021. The statue was placed in a prominent area of downtown Palm Springs near the art museum.
Knight described the statue's return as "an anti-queer slur lifted high onto a civic pedestal in one of America's least likely places."
The city's decision to relocate the statue from its current spot has left some Palm Springs residents unhappy.
On the city's Facebook post announcing the move, many of the top comments were from residents and visitors expressing their disagreement. One person noted that tourists "love taking photos there," while another lamented, "It's a shame you caved to the pressure to relocate her."
