Kim Kardashian has been accused of damaging the iconic gold Marilyn Monroe dress she wore to this year’s Met Gala in May.
The Marilyn Monroe Collection shared photos on Instagram of the dress allegedly on display at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! In Hollywood on Monday and claim that it is now “missing crystals” with some “left hanging by a thread”.
The account, which is run by Marilyn Monroe historian and collector Scott Fortner, also shared side-by-side comparisons of the outfit both before and after the Met Gala.
“So much for keeping “the integrity of the dress and the preservation.” @ripleysbelieveitornot , was it worth it?” they captioned the images which were taken by ChadMichael Morrisette and have since gone viral.
The 41-year-old SKIMS mogul was the talk of last month’s event when she arrived at the New York event wearing the very same dress that screen legend Monroe wore to sing “Happy Birthday Mr President” to US president John F. Kennedy in 1962.
Kardashian is the only person to have worn the outfit since and admitted to losing 16 pounds in three weeks to fit into it, but she was still unable to zip it up completely.
She was loaned the frock by officials at the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum, where the 60-year-old dress has been stored in a temperature-controlled environment since it was bought for an eye-watering $5 million back in 2016.
The Kardashians star only wore it for a total of 15 minutes before changing into a replica, also owned by Ripley’s museum.
Following the Met Gala, they released a statement insisting that the dress was in “great” condition following the red carpet run.
"Great care was taken to preserve this piece of pop culture history,” Ripley’s said.
"With input from garment conservationists, appraisers, and archivists, the garment’s condition was top priority. Believe It or Not! no alterations were to be made to the dress and Kim even changed into a replica after the red carpet."
Kardashian - who was gifted a lock of Monroe’s hair ahead of her red carpet appearance - also spoke of her efforts to be “respectful” to the dress in an interview with Vogue.
“I’m extremely respectful to the dress and what it means to American history," she told the publication.
“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.”
Many fans of the late Some Like It Hot star have since their dismay at the apparent “irreparable damage” and slammed the museum for choosing to loan out the dress in the first place.
"Missing so many crystals and those tears," wrote one person.
"It looks like it’s in a state after all those years of protection. So sad," said another.
While a third added: "She should have never been allowed to borrow the dress in the first place.”
A source close to the mum-of-three has denied the allegations, telling MailOnline that the images are “not accurate” and that claims she damaged the dress are “completely false”.
They further insisted that the 60-year-old dress already had signs of wear before Ripley’s bought it, highlighting that Kardashian only wore it for a short time while walking the red carpet.
The Standard has contacted representatives for Kim Kardashian and Ripley’s Believe It Or Not for comment.
