Kim Kardashian Criticized for Marilyn Monroe Dress Diet

On Monday, the star shocked everyone by showing up to the 2022 Met Gala in the screen legend's iconic "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" dress. A nude-colored, skin-tight and crystal-studded Jean Louis dress that was immortalized by Monroe's then-scandalous performance of the song for President John F. Kennedy's 45th birthday in 1962, the famous dress is a coveted museum item owned by Ripley's Believe or Not and still remains the most expensive dress ever sold at auction. So given the historical and pop cultural significance of the piece, Kardashian's outfit ended up making quite the stir at the event — even though the commentary wasn't entirely positive.

Ahead of fashion's biggest night, the Skims mogul revealed to Voguethat she lost 16 pounds in three weeks to fit into the dress, which can't be tailored for obvious reasons. And while she was able to shimmy into it during the first fitting, the second time around didn't go as planned, with Kardashian saying that "when it didn’t fit me I wanted to cry because it can’t be altered at all."

"I always thought she was extremely curvy. I imagined I might be smaller in some places where she was bigger and bigger in places where she was smaller," as Kardashian said, before adding that she followed a strict diet and exercise regime in order to fit into the dress.

"I would wear a sauna suit twice a day, run on the treadmill, completely cut out all sugar and all carbs, and just eat the cleanest veggies and protein," she said. "I didn’t starve myself, but I was so strict. I wanted to cry tears of joy when it went up."

However, a number of people called her dramatic weight loss "textbook disordered eating shit" that feeds into unrealistic beauty standards, especially since Kardashian and her sisters have been routinely criticized for already being "responsible for so many unhealthy beauty standards."

Don't talk to me about Kim K's Met Gala look unless it's to unpack our disgusting obsession with weight. Losing 16 lbs in 3 weeks to fit into a dress is shocking and unhealthy. Punishing her body like that is heartbreaking enough but should be ashamed for promoting that toxicity," as one person, while another added, "Kim Kardashian proudly saying she went on an extreme diet to lose a stone in three weeks to fit into a dress she was only allowed to wear for less than 10 minutes is frankly disgusting and irresponsible and unhinged but hey what do I know."

Meanwhile, others were baffled by the extraordinary lengths she went to in order to "wear a dress for 5 mins before changing into a replica of said dress," seeing as how Kardashian said she only wore the original on the red carpet before swapping it out for something she could eat and drink in.

They added, "And they're acting like this is normal."

Kardashian has yet to comment on the backlash. In the meantime, you can see what people are saying below.

Kim saying she lost 16 pounds in 3 weeks just to wear a dress and they're acting like this is normal 🥴

— Waystar Royco CEO (@kingbealestreet) May 3, 2022

K*m went on a strict diet regimen and put on a sauna suit twice a day, worked out intensely all to wear a dress for 5 mins before changing into a replica of said dress. This isn't normal. How can she say that so casually 😭🥴

— Bolu Babalola 🍯🌶 (@BeeBabs) May 3, 2022

Christ this is textbook disordered eating shit, the sort that the next generation will point to as their own vernacular of diet culture bullshithttps://t.co/eTeSY0beDF

— Anne Helen Petersen (@annehelen) May 3, 2022

Don't talk to me about Kim K's Met Gala look unless it's to unpack our disgusting obsession with weight. Losing 16 lbs in 3 weeks to fit into a dress is shocking and unhealthy. Punishing her body like that is heartbreaking enough but should be ashamed for promoting that toxicity

— Katy Stoll (@katystoll) May 3, 2022

i’m gonna say it and no one can change my mind:
fuck kim kardashian for deciding she NEEDED to wear a historical dress & then publicizing her extremely unhealthy weight loss to achieve that. the kardashians are already responsible for so many unhealthy beauty standards. fuck this

— aly!! 💖 is STREAMING WD (TV) (@ninjaravioli7) May 3, 2022

Kim telling everyone she lost 16 pounds in 3 weeks to fit into Marilyn’s dress is so unhinged and dangerous to promote to any young girls watching

— jodie (@jodieegrace) May 3, 2022

Photo via Getty / Gotham