The Devil Won’t Wear Chanel: Meryl Streep Rips Karl Lagerfeld for ‘Lie’ About Oscar Dress

Streep claims outspoken designer “defamed” her, stylist and designer she’ll wear on Sunday

Meryl Streep
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Karl Lagerfeld should know better than to mess with Miranda Priestly, er, Meryl Streep.

The Academy Award winner and 20-time nominee issued a blistering statement accusing the Chanel designer of defaming her when he said the “Florence Foster Jenkins” star turned down his couture gown because she would not receive a fee to wear it at Sunday’s Oscar ceremony.

“Karl Lagerfeld, a prominent designer, defamed me, my stylist, and the illustrious designer whose dress I chose to wear, in an important industry publication,” Streep said through a spokesperson on Saturday night.

“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,” Streep continued, referencing the story that appeared on Thursday in the fashion trade Women’s Wear Daily.

Any reader instantly transported to the office of her iconic “Devil Wears Prada” character Miranda Priestly would not be alone. The language reflected exactly the kind of truth-hurts campiness for which that performance, a thinly-veiled portrait of Vogue editor and Conde Nast creative director Anna Wintour, is known.

It’s also one that earned her one of the 20 Oscar nominations she thrust in the designer’s face.

“I do not take this lightly, and Mr. Lagerfeld’s generic ‘statement’ of regret for this ‘controversy’ was not an apology. He lied, they printed the lie, and I am still waiting,” Streep concluded.

North American representatives for Chanel were not immediately available for comment.

With the added spotlight of the Lagerfeld squabble, Streep could not have a higher profile walking into the show.

Her passionate speech accepting the Golden Globes’ Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award in January made her a target for President Donald Trump — who called the actress “overrated” after she denounced him for impersonating a disabled reporter during his campaign.

It’s currently unknown which designer the star will wear on Sunday.

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