“Sometimes I feel bad for Kim Kardashian. When she doesn’t wear clothes, people are angry, when she does wear clothes, people are angry. What’s a lady to do?” joked Noah at first.
He continued, “The Marilyn Manroe dress is a one-of-a-kind piece of American history, right. The Met Gala happens every year. People dress like hamburgers there. You could have worn anything else, because if you are entrusted with a piece of American history, you better do everything you can to take care of it,” said Noah.
He said Kim took a big risk with a delicate artefact and it backfired, but Ripley’s deserves most of the blame.
“They’re the ones who loaned the dress to Kim. If they told her to wear it, then that’s on them.“
Noah admitted that he understood the temptation.
“If the Louvre called me and they said I could kiss the Mona Lisa for a selfie, I would do it and use tongue,” he jokingly added.
He ended that a lot of people were at fault for the iconic dress getting ruined and suggested that Ripley’s sell the dress to a “real” museum that will look after it properly while Kim should choose something from Ripley’s to wear to next year’s Met Gala.
cinephile17 commented: “Ripley’s shouldn’t have loaned the dress, but Kim had no right asking to borrow it in the first place. She has access to just about everything. This stunt earned her a lot of press, but she clearly has no conscious or respect for historical objects.”
“Ripley’s should’ve just given her the replica without telling her it’s a replica. Poor choice on their part and not surprising on hers. She has no understanding of culture and history therefore always appropriating it for her selfish needs,” said St. Jerome.
“Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” has denied claims that Kim Kardashian damaged Marilyn Monroe’s iconic “Happy Birthday Mr. President” dress at the Met Gala after photos were posted online allegedly showing damage to the multi-million dollar dress.
“Kim Kardashian’s walk up the Metropolitan Museum’s stairs at this year’s Met Gala caused quite the stir, but one thing Ripley’s Believe It or Not! can say with confidence is that it did not cause damage to Marilyn Monroe’s famed ‘Happy Birthday’ dress from 1962,” the museum said in a press release.
“Ripley’s Believe It or Not! is not the first owner of this dress. It was acquired at a Julien’s Auctions event in 2016 for $4.8 million,” the press release went on to say. “A report written on the dress’s condition in early 2017 states, ‘a number of the seams are pulled and worn. This is not surprising given how delicate the material is. There is puckering at the back by the hooks and eyes, among other instances of damage.’”
Scott Fortner, the owner of one of the world’s largest private collections of the late starlet, claimed the dress was damaged following its appearance at the prestigious event.
“So much for keeping ‘the integrity of the dress and the preservation,’” he wrote on Instagram. “Ripley’s Believe It or Not, was it worth it?”
Fortner posted various photos from different angles and lighting showing the dress before and after the 2022 Met Ball. In one zoomed-in photo, he shows where some of the crystals are missing and how some were “left hanging by a thread.” He called the damage “significant.”
The were photos sent to Fortner from Chad Michael Christian Morrisette on June 12, when he saw the dress displayed at Ripley’s Hollywood location.
When Kardashian donned the iconic gown for the Met Ball in May, Ripley’s released a statement that said, “With input from garment conservationists, appraisers, archivists, and insurance, both the Ripley’s and Kim knew they could make the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity happen. Agreeing that the garment’s condition was top priority, it was agreed that no alterations were to be made to the dress.”
The Skims owner only wore the dress for the gala’s red carpet, then immediately changed into a replica for the remainder of the event. She’s the only one, besides Monroe, to ever wear the ensemble. She received backlash for not only wearing the archival piece but also touting that she lost 16 pounds in just weeks to fit into it in the first place.
Monroe wore the multi-million-dollar ensemble on May 19, 1962, to sing then-President John F. Kennedy a breathy version of “Happy Birthday” at his Madison Square Garden birthday celebration.
Kim Kardashian’s Response
During her recent interview with Today, Kardashian addressed the allegations as she spoke to Hoda Kotb about how the team at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! the museum helped her carefully put on the dress and the limited amount of time that she wore it. Kim caused an online uproar last week after netizens called her out for choosing to wear Monroe’s dress and then allegedly ruining it.
Responding to all the rumours, Kim denied that she did any damage to the dress and said, “Ripley’s [and I] worked together so well; there were handlers in gloves that put it on me. It was such a process. I showed up to the red carpet in a robe and slippers, and I put the dress on the bottom of the carpet, went up the stairs … I probably had it on for 3 minutes, 4 minutes”, via Today.
Kardashian further added that she respects Monroe and is aware of how much the dress means to American history and also stated that its iconic status and meaning for American culture is why she chose to wear the dress since it seemed perfect for the Met Gala theme. She further also addressed the weight loss she underwent to wear Marilyn’s dress and told Today, “I looked at it like a role. And I really wanted to wear this dress. It was really important to me.”
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