Ripley's Marilyn Monroe Hair Gift To Kim Kardashian May Be Fake

41-year-old reality star Kim Kardashian was recently given a lock of Marilyn Monroe's hair. It was a rare possession of the Ripley's Believe It or Not! franchise and she loved the gesture. The gift also caused stirs all over social media, with many expressing their displeasure with the present.

However, her most recent unique possession may not be that unique, as Scott Fortner, a Marilyn Monroe historian, called the gift fake. This was after Kardashian wore one of Monroe's historical dresses to the 2022 Met gala. 

Keep reading to learn more. 

It was evident to fans that Kardashian was happy to be gifted an actual historical piece before her appearance at the Met Gala. After gifting her the lock, Ripley's posted a clip on their Instagram page which showed Kardashian receiving it and exclaiming in excitement, "so special to me" and "so cool."

She also hugged Ripley's staff and joked, "Oh, my God, I'm literally going to do some crazy voodoo s--- [to] channel her." She also joked about sleeping beside it every night. "Wow, this is sleeping with me every night," she said as she turned to Pete Davidson, her boyfriend, and added, "Sorry babe."

After Kardashian was given the lock, Fortner discredited the claim that it was an actual lock from Marilyn Monroe's hair. He also brought out some receipts to prove it. On his Instagram page, he wrote, "News Alert: Marilyn Monroe Hair Gifted to Kardashian by Ripley's is Fake." 

He continued with a question, "Who styled Marilyn's hair for the JFK gala: Robert Champion or Kenneth Battelle?" To prove that the news was fake, he posted a screenshot he took from Ripley's website, which featured the lock. It was supposedly verified by John Reznikoff, the founder of University Archives. 

According to the website, the hair was removed from Monroe's scalp by Robert Champion, her then hairstylist. This was before her performance at Madison Square Garden for former President John F. Kennedy's birthday, on May 19th, 1962. Fortner also mentioned that the hair was cut by a Mr. Kenneth and not Robert Champion, as claimed by Ripley's website. 

"News Flash: Robert Champion did not cut and style Marilyn's hair for the JFK gala," he said. "It was actually the one and only 'Mr. Kenneth' (Battelle) who had the honors. Battelle is responsible for Marilyn's famous hairstyle from that night, as documented by a receipt from Lilly Dache Beauty Salon."

Prior to his disagreement with the Monroe hair gift claim, Fortner previously mentioned in an interview with People that Kardashian's decision to wear the $4.81 million dress was unnecessary. 

In his words, it was a "cause for concern" since "the fabric for the dress was literally sculpted to [Monroe's] body to precisely match every curve." He explained that it was concerning because the dress was iconic and specially made for Monroe.

"While I understand the appeal of wanting to wear such an iconic gown, it can't be dismissed or overlooked that anyone other than Marilyn Monroe wearing the famous 'Happy Birthday Mr. President' dress might be cause for concern for several reasons," Fortner said. He added, "The dress was custom-made for Marilyn Monroe. It's not an off-the-rack garment."

The estate of the late star Monroe surprised fans by supporting Kardashian's Monroe-inspired Met Gala look. According to TMZ, they noted that the icon would have approved of Kardashian re-wearing her dress.

Before the confusion about the hair, Kardashian wrote how grateful she was to Ripley's for letting her borrow the dress at all. She also wrote a short tribute to Monroe.

"Thank you Ripley's Believe It or Not! for giving me the opportunity to debut this evocative piece of fashion history for the first time since the late Marilyn Monroe wore it," the caption said, "I am forever grateful for this moment."