A Ripley's spokesperson says the lock of hair is the real deal. A Marilyn Monroe collector disagrees.
Kim Kardashian was blown away when she got a lock of Marilyn Monroe’s hair before wearing Monroe’s iconic gown at last week’s Met gala.
It came from Ripley's Believe It or Not, which also loaned her the dress.
The night was a triumph for Kardashian and a PR bonanza for Ripley’s, but now a respected Marilyn collector is calling the lock of hair “fake.”
“I have the largest private collection in the world of Marilyn Monroe’s personal property,” Scott Fortner said.
Fortner says Ripley’s used a certificate to authenticate the lock of hair. The document says it was cut by hairdresser Robert Champion, just before Monroe’s famous 1962 birthday salute to President John F. Kennedy.
But according to Fortner, a receipt from that night proves that Monroe’s hair was actually cut by another stylist, Kenneth Battelle.
Ripley’s is now hitting back.
“We think that there’s maybe just been some confusion, because we never specifically said that came from her haircut that was done for that event,” John Corcoran, Ripley’s director of exhibits and archives, said.
Corcoran says the lock of the hair is the real deal.
“That is one of six different locks of Marilyn’s hair that we have. This was purchased at a very reputable auction, with no questions about its authenticity,” Corcoran said.
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