Woody Allen statue removal sought

Woody Allen’s affection for New York is well known. But over the years, he’s celebrated other cities, too. The director has spent several weeks in the city of Oviedo, in northern Spain. He described the city as “delicious, exotic, beautiful, clean, lovely, tranquil and pedestrianized,” and even set his 2008 film “Vicky Christina Barcelona” there.

The city has returned the favor. The Princess of Asturias Foundation (previously the Prince of Asturias Foundation) awarded him Spain’s most prestigious arts prize, the Prince of Asturias, in 2002. The awards are presented in Oviedo, the capital of the Principality of Asturias.

A year later, officials installed a life-size statue of the director on a shopping street. The bronze statue was designed by Spanish sculptor Vincente Menendez Santarua. Allen has even dropped by to take photographs with his metal doppelganger.

Now, though, a prominent women’s group want the statue gone. It is petitioning city hall to remove the statue in light of allegations that Allen molested his 7-yearold adopted daughter. In a letter, the Asturias Feminist Organisation argued that the statue of Allen honors “an abuser and pervert.”

Oviedo officials say they’ll consider the proposal during a forthcoming meeting.

The group is responding to allegations — first leveled decades ago — that Allen molested Dylan Farrow, the daughter he adopted with expartner Mia Farrow, when she was 7 years old. (Allen has denied the allegations and suggested that Dylan Farrow and Mia Farrow fabricated the claims because of a bitter custody battle.)

The backlash has gotten so strong that it’s unclear whether - and how - Allen’s latest film, “A Rainy Day in New York” will be released.