Kim Kardashian denied that she damagedMarilyn Monroe 's dress by wearing it at theMet Gala .- Kardashian was accused of damaging the garment, which Monroe wore to sing "Happy Birthday" to JFK.
Kim Kardashian said that claims she damaged Marilyn Monroe's iconic sequin dress while wearing it at the 2022 Met Gala were untrue, speaking publicly about the controversy for the first time.
In an interview with the "Today" show, host Hoda Kotb asked Kardashian whether claims that she had damaged the dress, which Monroe wore in 1962 to sing "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy, were "not true."
"No," Kardashian said, denying that her wear time had damaged the dress. "And I mean, Ripley's, we work together so well. There was handlers and gloves that put it on me."
Kardashian borrowed the dress from Ripley's Believe It or Not! to wear for a brief time at the gala. Ripley's purchased the dress for $4.8 million in 2016, according to a press release from the organization.
On June 14, Kardashian was accused of damaging the dress. The Instagram account for the Marilyn Monroe Collection, which is run by Scott Fortner, posted photos taken on June 12 by Chad Michael Christian Morrisette that appeared to show that the dress had been damaged, showing fraying fabric near the zipper and crystals that appear to have fallen off.
Ripley's released a statement on Thursday denying that Kardashian's wear had damaged the dress.
"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," the statement reads.
Kardashian only wore the dress for a short period of time — "three minutes, four minutes," she said on "Today." Vogue previously reported that Kardashian only wore the gown to ascend the steps at the Met Gala, arriving at the event in a dressing gown before changing into the dress. After her entrance, she changed into a replica due to the garment's delicate nature.
"I respect her, I understand how much this dress means to American history," Kardashian told "Today" of why she decided to wear the dress. "And with the theme being American, I thought, 'What is more American than Marilyn Monroe singing happy birthday to the President of the United States?'"