Meryl Streep says Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld's 'lie' will 'overwhelm' her Oscars honors

Meryl Streep
(Image credit: Christopher Polk/Getty Images)

Oscar-nominated actress Meryl Streep has accused Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld of defamation for comments, published Thursday in Women's Wear Daily, in which he said she declined to wear his dress to Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony because another designer offered to pay her for the exposure.

"Don't continue the dress. We found somebody who will pay us," Lagerfeld said he was told after beginning work on Streep's gown. He added, "A genius actress, but cheapness also, no?"

Streep denied Lagerfeld's account Thursday, and Chanel issued a statement confirming her claim that "there was no mention of the reason" she chose a different designer. But late Saturday evening, Streep issued a vehement second statement. "Karl Lagerfeld, a prominent designer, defamed me, my stylist, and the illustrious designer whose dress I chose to wear, in an important industry publication," she said. "That publication printed this defamation, unchecked. Subsequently, the story was picked up globally, and continues, globally, to overwhelm my appearance at the Oscars, on the occasion of my record breaking 20th nomination, and to eclipse this honor in the eyes of the media, my colleagues, and the audience."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Streep ended her statement with a demand for an explicit apology from Lagerfeld: "He lied, they printed the lie, and I am still waiting."

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.