According to the Marilyn Monroe Collection, the dress that Kim Kardashian wore to the Met Gala earlier this year is now damaged, with numerous crystals from the piece reportedly missing amongst other allegations. Now, for the first time since the news broke, Kim has spoken out.
Ripley's Believe It or Not! – who purchased the dress for a whopping $4.8million back in 2016 – was criticised for permitting Kim to wear the crystal-embellished Jean Louis dress - the same dress that Monroe wore to sing Happy Birthday to JFK in 1962.
During an appearance on the Today show, Kim Kardashian stated that the dress wasn't damaged, emphasising her respect for Monroe, and went into detail about the process required to protect the dress.
Team Short Manicure has recruited another member.
“I respect [Marilyn Monroe],” she said. "I understand how much this dress means to American history. With the theme being American, I thought, what is more American than Marilyn Monroe singing happy birthday to the president of the United States?"
"It was such a process. I showed up to the red carpet in a robe and slippers and I put the dress on on the bottom of the carpet, then went up the stairs. I probably had it on for three or four minutes, and I changed right at the top of the stairs. We worked [with Ripley's] together so well. There were handlers and gloves that put it on me." The plot thickens.
There's beach pics, and then there's THESE beach pics.
On Sunday 12 June, photographer Chad Michael Morrisette visited the Ripley's Hollywood location, where he noted the damages to the dress and sent pictures of it to The Marilyn Monroe Collection's Instagram.
The dress appears to have some damage in the images, with the account stating that there are "missing crystals and some left hanging by a thread".
Online backlash was immediately directed at Kim and her team for the damages, but The Marilyn Monroe Collection directed the anger at Ripley's for allowing the dress to be worn on the red carpet.
The account called out Ripley's in the caption, writing: "So much for keeping 'the integrity of the dress and the preservation.' @ripleysbelieveitornot, was it worth it?"
In another post, there was a longer statement, which read: "While another post includes a longer statement: "To anyone who may be questioning the actual condition of Marilyn Monroe's "Happy Birthday Mr. President" dress prior to being purchased by @ripleysbelieveitornot or implying that low-quality photos of the dress were shared to somehow make the newly discovered damage to the dress seem worse than it actually is.
Instagram content
"This is 4K video that I took of the gown while it was on display at @juliens_auctions in November of 2016. Without question, the damage is significant. #marilynmonroe."
Fans of Marilyn were not too pleased, as one person commented: "Why would anyone wanna ruin such beautiful history?"
Another wrote: "Another added: "She should've never worn it. That dress should be in a museum."
A third added: "A very special item that should of been protected and loved at every cost."
However, days after Kim wore the dress, Ripley's did release a statement saying that they tried to protect the dress.
Instagram content
"We basically had many conversations with Kim and her team and put a lot of requirements in place with security and with the handling of the dress," Amanda Joiner, a vice president of licensing and publishing at Ripley's, told The Daily Beast.
"The dress was never with Kim alone. It was always with a Ripley's representative. We always ensured that at any time we felt that the dress was in danger of ripping or we felt uncomfortable about anything, we always had the ability to be able to say we not were going to continue with this."
Amanda Joiner, Ripley Entertainment's vice president of licensing and publishing, has also stated: "From the bottom of the Met steps, where Kim got into the dress, to the top where it was returned, the dress was in the same condition it started in."
Lori Harvey launched her skin-care line, SKN by LH, in October 2021.
Last month, the man behind the dress himself, legendary designer Bob Mackie, said it was a "big mistake" to let Kim, who attended the Met Gala alongside boyfriend Pete Davidson, wear the dress.
Kim also prompted significant backlash when she proudly revealed that she had lost 16lbs in just three weeks to wear the dress.
