Believe it or not, Ripley's says Kim Kardashian didn't ruin Marilyn Monroe's dress at the Met Gala
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When has a dress last caused this much commotion?
Posts started popping up on social media earlier this week accusing Kim Kardashian of ruining Marilyn Monroe's iconic dress at the Met Gala, and you'd think the reality star had defaced Mount Rushmore or taken a lit match to the Constitution with the swift outrage. Now, Ripley's Believe It or Not!, which loaned Kardashian the dress, is attempting to set the record straight in her defense.
In a statement posted to its website, Ripley's notes that one thing they "can say with confidence" is that Kim K's now notorious walk up the Met Gala stairs "did not cause damage to Marilyn Monroe's famed 'Happy Birthday' dress from 1962."
John Shearer/Getty Images Kim Kardashian at the 2022 Met Gala.
Kardashian wore the dress for a hot minute, using it to make her fashionably late entrance at the Gala before changing into a replica of the gown.
"I'm extremely respectful to the dress and what it means to American history," Kardashian told Vogue. "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."
After it had exchanged several hands over the years, Ripley's acquired the dress at an auction in 2016 for $4.8 million. According to Ripley's, the wear and tear the dress suffered in the intervening 50-plus years was detailed in a 2017 report, including "a number of the seams are pulled and worn" and "puckering at the back by the hooks and eyes."
"Kim Kardashian wearing the 'Happy Birthday' dress has been hotly contested," the statement continues, "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 VP of Publishing and Licensing Amanda Joiner was with the dress the day of the Gala and during its transport from Orlando to New York, according to the statement, and she also weighed in on the fashion fiasco, saying, "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."
The famed memorabilia collector also posted a series of slides to its Instagram answering popular questions from across the internet, like "Really, Ripley's?!" and "Was it worth it?" In response to the latter, it was noted that Kardashian didn't pay Ripley's for the dress, but instead made donations to two charities in the greater Orlando area on behalf of the company.
So there you have it. The dress is 60 years young — but doesn't look a day over 30 — it's been through a lot, and a short jaunt up a flight of stairs apparently is the least of its troubles. Ripley's Believe It or Not! will continue to exhibit the dress — in as-is condition — at their Hollywood location through the fall. One assumes Kardashian will still be allowed to visit it.
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