“I’m not trying to lose any more weight but I have more energy than ever. I cut out so much sugar, and a lot of junk food I was eating,” she said when addressing the backlash. “I just completely changed my lifestyle.”
Kim would tell The New York Times that it’s the same as an actor losing weight for a film role.
She explained: “To me it was like: ‘OK, Christian Bale can do it for a movie role and that is acceptable’. Even Renée Zellweger gained weight for a role.
“It’s all the same to me. I wasn’t saying: ‘Hey everyone, why don’t you go lose this weight in a short period of time?’”
Another aspect of the dress-wearing which sparked a backlash was the question marks over whether Kardashian did damage to the historical artefact.
Photographs taken by Scott Fortner, a collector who works to authenticate and verify Monroe memorabilia, appeared to show stretched and buckled fabric and missing crystals on the back of the dress.
The post quotes the dress’s owner, Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!, who at the time claimed ‘great care was taken to preserve this piece of pop culture history. With input from garment conservationists, appraisers, and archivists, the garment’s condition was top priority … no alterations were to be made to the dress and Kim even changed into a replica after the red carpet!’.
While the International Council of Museums states that ‘historic garments should not be worn by anybody, public or private figures’, as per The Guardian.
Ripley’s also released a statement saying (via Us Weekly): “Kim Kardashian wearing the ‘Happy Birthday’ dress has been hotly contested, but the fact remains that she did not, in any way, damage the garment in the short amount of time it was worn at the Met Gala.”
Ripley’s Vice President of Publishing and Licensing, Amanda Joiner, added in the memo: “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.”
Ripley’s concluded: “A recent social media post asked, ‘Was it worth it?’ Kim Kardashian did not pay Ripley’s Believe It or Not! to wear the dress, nor did the company pay her. Rather, Kardashian made a charitable donation to two charities in the greater Orlando area on behalf of the dress.”
Ahead of her appearance, Kim defended her outfit decision.
“I’m extremely respectful to the dress and what it means to American history,” she said. “I would never want to sit in it or eat in it or have any risk of any damage to it, and I won’t be wearing the kind of body makeup I usually do.”
Kim maintained: “It was such a process. I showed up on the red carpet in a robe and slippers. I put the dress on on the bottom of the carpet, went up the stairs, I probably had it on for four minutes and then I changed right at the top of the stairs.”
When asked if the dress had been damaged by her wearing it, she insisted: “No. [Ripley’s and I] worked together so well. There were handlers wearing gloves that put it on me.”
But now, there’s been another dress-related controversy.
Kim has gone viral after saying that people didn’t even know who Monroe was before she sported the gown!
The reality TV star appeared on Today with Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb when Monroe’s historic dress came up.
She was on the show to promote her skincare line when the host brought up a behind-the-scenes conversation she’d had with Kim.
Many social media users are furious about Kardashian’s comments, with one writing: “Ain’t no way Kim Kardashian said many people didn’t know who Marilyn Monroe was until she wore her dress.”
Another says: “The audacity of this.”
“Imagine having this much ego!” a third adds.
“What a bubble she lives in, covered only with money,” a fourth person comments. “I just don’t know why people give her so much attention.”
Monroe wore the dress to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden in May 1962 – three months before she died.
Kim added: “I respect her and 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.”
Guthrie said: “We were just talking, you said you were shocked on TikTok, some people don’t even know who Marilyn Monroe was.”
Kim replied: “That was the most shocking thing to me and that’s why I was so happy to at least have that opportunity and that Ripley’s gave me the opportunity to share this moment so that it could live on.”
