Ripley's Believe It or Not! refutes claims Kim Kardashian damaged Marilyn Monroe's dress
Kardashian wore the famed gown on the 2022 Met Gala red carpet.
Ripley's Believe It or Not! is refuting claims that Kim Kardashian caused any damage to Marilyn Monroe's gown while wearing it to the 2022 Met Gala.
Kardashian wore the gown, which was loaned to her by the Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum in Hollywood, California, on this year's Met Gala red carpet before changing out of it and wearing a replica for the rest of the evening.
"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 company said in a statement Thursday.
The statement also noted that Ripley's Believe It or Not! was not the first owner of the dress, which Monroe wore while singing "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to President John F. Kennedy in 1962, and that it was acquired at a Julien's Auctions event in 2016 with some wear and tear already.
"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," Ripley's said.
Ripley's issued the statement in response to backlash this week from those claiming the reality star had allegedly damaged the gown during her Met Gala appearance.
On Monday, Monroe historian Scott Fortner shared a photo of the dress captured on June 12 by visual artist and creative director Chad Michael Morrisette. The dress is currently back on display at the Ripley's Museum in Hollywood.
The photo appears to show signs of missing crystals and a tattered back zipper seam along with some torn material.
"Was it worth it?" Fortner wrote in the caption, tagging Ripley's.
"This dress is a piece of my life and my heart," Morrisette wrote in a separate post. "To see what @kimkardashian did in the damaging of it is heartbreaking."
In its statement on Thursday, Ripley's insisted Kardashian had not damaged the garment in the short amount of time she had it on.
"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," said Amanda Joiner, Ripley’s vice president of publishing and licensing.
Additionally, the company pushed back on Fortner's question -- "Was it worth it?" -- saying the SKIMS founder had not paid to wear the dress, nor had the company paid her to wear it. Kardashian did, however, make a charitable donation to two charities in the greater Orlando area on behalf of Ripley's Believe It or Not, Ripley's said.
Kardashian has not yet commented on claims she damaged Monroe's gown or Ripley's statement this week. In May, she thanked Ripley's for loaning her the dress, writing on social media, "Thank you Ripley’s Believe It or Not! for giving me the opportunity to debut this evocative piece of fashion history for the first time since the late Marilyn Monroe wore it. I am forever grateful for this moment."
Since the photo of the alleged damage was shared online, some have jumped to Kardashian's defense. Some social media users have claimed videos of the dress at a fitting Kim attended earlier this year show the damage was already there before she ever tried it on.
"This is footage of the dress that Ripley’s shared when Kim went to go visit and try it on for the first time," one TikTok user said, noting that several rhinestones were already missing and some of the clasps appeared to be torn.
In an earlier statement posted by Ripley's Believe It or Not! on May 2, the company said that "great care" had been taken to preserve the gown during the loan period.
"With input from garment conservationists, appraisers, and archivists, the garment's condition was top priority," the statement read. "Believe It or Not! no alterations were to be made to the dress and Kim even changed into a replica after the red carpet!"
The sparkling, neutral-toned 60-year-old dress was sold at auction for $4.8 million to Ripley's Believe It or Not! in 2016. It is the most expensive dress ever sold at an auction, according to Guinness World Records.
Kardashian has also faced criticism from iconic fashion designer Bob Mackie who created the original sketch for the dress in 1962.
Weighing in on the reality star's Met Gala look back in May, Mackie told Entertainment Weekly that he felt the decision to allow Kardashian to wear the gown was "big mistake."
"[Marilyn] was a goddess. A crazy goddess, but a goddess," he added. "She was just fabulous. Nobody photographs like that. And it was done for her. It was designed for her. Nobody else should be seen in that dress."
ABC News has reached out to Kim Kardashian for comment and is awaiting a response.
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