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Giant Marilyn Monroe Statue Sparks Outrage in Palm Springs

Giant Marilyn Monroe Statue Sparks Outrage in Palm Springs

Marilyn Monroe is once again causing controversy.

The iconic late actress, who passed away at the age of 36 in 1962, was immortalized in the form of a 26-foot-tall statue featuring her memorable dress-fluttering pose in The Seven Year Itch, called “Forever Marilyn.”

The statue is heading to Palm Springs, Calif. after seven years, and is meant to be placed in front of the entrance of the Palm Strings Art Museum after a city council vote, following its presentation in the city from 2012 to 2014.

However, some people aren’t so happy about it – including the museum’s director, Louis Grachos.

Find out why…

“The thought of those kids leaving our museum and having the first thing they see is the undergarments and underwear of this enormous Marilyn sculpture would be highly offensive,” he told the council, via NPR.

The council disagreed and moved to have it placed in front of the museum of three years.

A Change.org petition against the statue also sprung up, with over 40,000 signatures: “She’s literally going to be mooning the museum,” says Elizabeth Armstrong, a spokesperson for the petition.

“It’s blatantly sexist. It forces people almost to upskirt.”

There’s even a Committee to Relocate Marilyn, led by fashion designer Trina Turk, whose issue focuses on local regulations and city planning.

“We’re sticking to the street and highway code and the ways in which Palm Springs did not follow its own rules in the process of closing this street,” she explained.

“Social media impressions don’t really pay the bills for someone who has a shop or a restaurant on Palm Canyon Drive…there’s no data.”

“We are going to conduct [an] independent research study and notify the city what the economic impact and benefit she has been,” Aftab Dada, leader of PS Resorts, said in the report.

A big star just finished working on a Marilyn Monroe biopic.

See the statue inside…

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Photos: Getty
Posted to: Marilyn Monroe