Kim Kardashian responds to Marilyn Monroe dress Met Gala backlash

Kim Kardashian has responded to criticism of the rapid weight loss she underwent in order to fit into Marilyn Monroe’s iconic gown at this year’s Met Gala.

Kim Kardashian has responded to criticism of the rapid weight loss she underwent in order to fit into Marilyn Monroe’s iconic Jean Louis gown at this year’s Met Gala.

When the reality star and mogul stepped onto the red carpet of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art on the first Monday in May, wearing the famous glittering number, the move was branded “iconic” and a “milestone in Met Gala history”.

That was until she revealed, in a subsequent Vogue profile, how the look came together, and the extreme lengths she’d gone to in order to pull it off.

“I tried it on, and it didn’t fit me. And so I looked at it, and I said, ‘Give me three weeks,’” Kardashian toldVogue correspondent for the night LaLa Anthony.

“I had to lose 16 pounds (7kg) to be able to fit this, but it was such a challenge. I was determined to fit it.”

The 41-year-old’s admission sparked widespread concern and criticism on social media, calling it “appalling”, “disgusting”, “irresponsible” and “unhinged”, and flagging her “insistence that such drastic weight loss is an attainable goal”.

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Kim Kardashian was criticised for her rapid weight loss to fit into the iconic gown. Picture: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

But she said she ‘didn’t do anything unhealthy’ to fit into the dress. Picture: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

But in an interview with The New York Times this week to promote her re-released skincare line, SKKN BY KIM, the mother-of-four defended her “extreme” behaviour, likening it instead to the dramatic physical transformations actors often undergo for film roles.

“To me it was like, ‘OK, Christian Bale can do it for a movie role and that is acceptable.’ Even Renée Zellweger gained weight for a role,” Kardashian said.

“It’s all the same to me. I wasn’t saying, ‘Hey everyone, why don’t you go lose this weight in a short period of time?’”

In Kardashian’s mind, she said, it was about commitment – like that of a boxer who needs to make weight for a bout.

“I didn’t do anything unhealthy,” she said.

(It seems on the day, the reality star didn’t quite fit into the frock, with a video from the Met Gala showing the overskirt of the dress didn’t do up over her famous derrière. Kardashian chose to drape her jacket fashionably over the opening at the back of the garment.)

Asked what she would have done if she hadn’t been able to squeeze into Monroe’s dress – which hadn’t been worn since the icon’s ‘Happy Birthday JFK’ serenade 60 years ago and couldn’t be altered – Kardashian said she “just simply couldn’t have gone”.

Actor Marilyn Monroe wore the dress as she sang ‘Happy Birthday Mr President’ to John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden, for his 45th birthday.

“Which wouldn’t have mattered, she said, “It was just important to me to reach that goal.”

At the time, Butterfly Foundation communications manager Alex Cowen told news.com.au: “Celebrities like Kim are just as much a victim of diet culture and the influence of the media as we are.

“The key difference is that when they engage in this type of risky weight loss behaviour there is positive financial and reputational gain involved for them,” she explained.

“For the average person who engages in this type of behaviour, there is often a lot more at stake such as body image issues or, in some cases, an eating disorder.”

Kardashian – whose body has long been thought of as her “brand” – has a history of promoting highly problematic weight-loss methods, from diet teas to waist-training corsets.

“I wasn’t saying, ‘Hey everyone, why don’t you go lose this weight in a short period of time?’” Kardashian said. Picture: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

But as “one of the most famous celebrities of this generation”, she “has a level of responsibility to be mindful of the way she speaks about her body, food, diet and exercise, knowing she has almost unparalleled influence in mainstream media,” Ms Cowen said.

“The language Kim has used heavily equates weight loss with feelings of joy and happiness and negatively reinforces a feeling of worthlessness when an item of clothing doesn’t fit,” she said.

“Kim’s choice of words heavily undermine the work of the body positivity and acceptance movements that have consistently reminded us it’s OK to go up a size if something doesn’t fit and that we shouldn’t have to change our bodies to fit into an item of clothing.”

For the star’s “predominantly young, female” audience, who are “attuned to Kim’s every move”, “exposure to this kind of language could easily contribute to the development of negative feelings, attitudes and behaviours in relation to body image, food and diet”.

“So, while Kim is garnishing headlines and praise, we need to also acknowledge this language carries a harmful message that could have a significant impact on others,” Ms Cowen said.