Kim Kardashian is insisting that she didn’t damage Marilyn Monroe’s iconic dress at the Met Gala this year, claiming in an interview this week that she had it on for only “four minutes”.

On Tuesday, the 41-year-old reality star addressed the ongoing controversy surrounding her wearing Monroe’s dress during an appearance on Today . In recent weeks, collectors have come forth to claim that the fabric of the gown was damaged and jewels were missing after Kardashian wore it. Monroe notably first wore the nude-coloured gown in 1962, when she serenaded President John F Kennedy on his birthday.

During the interview with Today, Kardashian said that any accusations about her ruining the dress were untrue, as she only had it on for less than five minutes. She noted how she worked with the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! Museum “so well” in order to keep the outfit in good condition.

“It was such a process,” she explained. “I showed up to the red carpet in a robe and slippers, and I put the dress on at the bottom of the carpet, went up the stairs. I probably had it on for three minutes, four minutes, and then I changed right at the top of the stairs.”

The Skims founder also expressed how she thought Monroe’s gown perfectly fit with the gala’s theme of “Gilded Glamour,” which paid homage to the history of American fashion throughout the gilded age.

“I respect [Monroe]” she said. “I understand how much this dress means to American history, and with the theme being American, I thought, ‘What is more American than Marilyn Monroe singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to the president of the United States?’”

Earlier this month, Monroe collector and historian, Scott Fortner, claimed that Kardashian had done “permanent damage” to the late icon’s dress in a blog post.

In the post, he shared before-and-after-pictures of the dress and wrote how disappointed he was at Ripley’s for not properly protecting the gown.

However, Ripley’s later came to Kardashian’s defence. The organization issued a statement noting that they were “confident” that she didn’t ruin Monroe’s dress at the Met Gala.

“Kim Kardashian wearing the ‘Happy Birthday’ dress has been hotly contested, but the fact remains that she did not, in any way, damage the garment in the short amount of time it was worn at the Met Gala,” the franchise said.

Ripley’s vice president of publishing and licensing Amanda Joiner, who supervised the dress’ transport to and from the Met Gala, had also noted that “from the bottom of the Met steps, where Kim got into the dress, to the top where it was returned, the dress was in the same condition it started in.”

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