Kim Kardashian has nothing but respect for the late Marilyn Monroe—despite claims that the SKIMS mogul damaged the late star's iconic dress during the 2022 Met Gala.
In fact, during a June 21 interview with Today's Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie, Kim denied damaging the garment, noting that she worked closely with the Ripley's Believe It Or Not! museum to prevent the dress—which Marilyn wore in 1962 while singing "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy—from being marred.
"No," Kim replied when Hoda asked if claims she "ruined" the dress are true. "There was handlers...that put it on me." The mom of four, who attended the gala alongside her boyfriend Pete Davidson, also told the co-anchors that she only wore the dress for a few minutes before changing into a replica.
Kim's interview comes days after alleged photos of the damaged dress were posted online. However, the Ripley's museum, who purchased the dress for $4.8 million in 2016 and gave Kim permission to wear it to the Met Gala, defended the Kardashians star. In a June 16 statement the brand wrote that Kim "did not, in any way, damage the garment in the short amount of time it was worn at the Met Gala."
During Kim's interview on Today, she said one of the reasons she was "so happy" to wear the dress was because many of her young fans actually didn't know who Marilyn Monroe was. "That was the most shocking thing to me," Kim said, noting she wanted to honor Marilyn's legacy. "I respect her, I understand how much this dress means to American history."
The SKKN businesswoman also said the Met Gala's America: An Anthology of Fashion theme was another incentive to wear the garment, noting, "What is more American than Marilyn Monroe singing 'Happy Birthday' to the President of the United States?"
Watch Kim's full Today interview above for more details about her Met Gala process and her love life.
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