Shailene Woodley's stylist has hit back at the vicious reaction to the actress' controversial Emmy Awards outfit after Megyn Kelly became one of its most outspoken critics.
Karla Welch defended the fashion risk on social media after Woodley's plunging Balenciaga look triggered days of debate online, with Kelly taking aim at everything from the actress' neckline to her hair and accessories.
Welch did not name Kelly directly in her response, but condemned people who appeared to take pleasure in attacking the outfit.
'Being super rude and mean and taking glee from it' says more about the critics themselves, Welch wrote on Threads, arguing that people could dislike an outfit without turning the reaction unnecessarily personal.
The backlash came during a major week for Woodley, who had collected the first Emmy win of her career just days before appearing at the main Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony.
Megyn Kelly Tears Into Shailene Woodley's Emmy Look
Woodley arrived at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards in one of the night's most unconventional ensembles.
The 34-year-old actress wore a plunging periwinkle Balenciaga halter top with sparkling gold wide-leg trousers and burgundy opera gloves.
She completed the look with a colourful 'Frida' necklace by Handle Only With Love (HOWL), reportedly valued at approximately $98,000 (about £73,300) and made with hand-carved Venetian glass, 18-karat gold and diamonds.
Kelly was unimpressed.
Speaking on her SiriusXM programme, The Megyn Kelly Show, the former Fox News presenter criticised Woodley's revealing top, hairstyle, jewellery and overall styling before directing much of the blame towards the person responsible for putting the look together.
Shailene Woodley makes a statement on the #Emmys carpet pic.twitter.com/fukBiUEFe7
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) September 14, 2026
Her comments added fuel to an already heated online debate over whether Woodley's ensemble was a daring red carpet experiment or a major styling misfire.
The outfit had divided social media from the moment Woodley stepped onto the carpet, with critics ridiculing the combination while others praised the actress for refusing to choose a conventional awards-show gown.
Karla Welch Defends Fashion Risk
Welch, whose celebrity clients have included Justin Bieber, Hailey Bieber, Sarah Paulson and Olivia Wilde, appeared unwilling to retreat from the controversial styling choice.
Responding on Threads, she stressed that disliking an outfit was fair game but criticised comments she considered cruel or unnecessarily personal.
She later reposted Woodley's look on Instagram with a tongue-in-cheek 'Trigger Warning' slide, signalling that the fierce reaction had not shaken her support for the ensemble.
View this post on Instagram
The move drew support from fashion fans who argued that red carpet dressing should involve experimentation instead of simply producing universally flattering or predictable looks.
Woodley herself has not publicly entered the argument.
Instead, she appeared to continue embracing elements of the outfit after the ceremony. At a Disney afterparty, she kept the glittering gold Balenciaga trousers but swapped the plunging top for a graphic T-shirt referencing Laurie Anderson's 1986 concert film Home of the Brave.
Outfit Row Follows Woodley's First Emmy Win
The controversy arrived during one of the biggest professional milestones of Woodley's career.
Days before the main Primetime Emmys ceremony, Woodley won Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series at the Creative Arts Emmys for her performance as Annie Clay in Hulu drama Paradise.
It marked the actress' first Emmy victory after she was previously nominated for Big Little Lies in 2017.
Woodley described the recognition as surreal and expressed gratitude towards her fellow actors and the television industry.
Her 2026 appearance also marked her return to the Emmy red carpet after nearly a decade, following her previous appearance in 2017.
Yet days after the ceremony, discussion around her clothing has continued to compete with the career achievement itself.
Welch's decision to defend the styling has now pushed the story beyond a straightforward best-or-worst-dressed debate, turning it into a wider argument over how far celebrity fashion criticism should go when commentary shifts from the clothes towards the woman wearing them.
