Kim Kardashian has addressed the criticism surrounding her Met Gala weight loss, which the 41-year-old underwent to fit into the dress worn by icon Marilyn Monroe when she sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to President John F Kennedy during the celebration of his 45th birthday, at Madison Square Garden in 1962. 

She spoke to The New York Times, saying “To me it was like, ‘OK, Christian Bale can do it for a movie role and that is acceptable.’ Even Renée Zellweger gained weight for a role. It’s all the same to me. I wasn’t saying, ‘Hey everyone, why don’t you go lose this weight in a short period of time?'”

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When Kardashian spoke to La La Anthony, co-host of Vogue‘s Met Gala livestream, while on the red carpet, the mother of four revealed that to fit into Monroe’s actual gown, Kim Kardashian would need to lose 16 pounds, which she did going by a diet which eliminated sugar and carbohydrates for three weeks. 

Her comments at the Met Gala had drawn backlash from ‘Riverdale‘ actor Lili Reinhart, who said in her Instagram story that it was “wrong” to openly admit to starving at the Met Gala, “When you know very well that millions of young men and women are looking up to you and listening to your every word. The ignorance is other-worldly disgusting”. 

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She followed it up with a tweet, defending her stance, saying “I do not say the things that I say because I want to be relevant or get attention. I speak up because I don’t see enough people with large platforms calling out toxic behaviour in our industry. Some people will never understand where I’m coming from and that’s okay”. 

Kardashian, in her NYT interview, noted, “I didn’t do anything unhealthy”, adding, “It was just important for me to reach that goal.” The media personality said that she lost her weight through diet, running twice a day, and wearing a sauna suit.