Sponsored message
Logged in as
Audience-funded nonprofit news
radio tower icon laist logo
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Subscribe
  • Listen Now Playing Listen

This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.

This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.

Arts & Entertainment

Lupita Nyong'o's Dress Returned, But It Turns Out The Pearls Were Fake

lupita_nyongo_oscars_dress.jpg
Lupita Nyong'o on the Oscars' red carpet in her dress that was stolen and now recovered. It turns out the 6,000 pearls on it are all fake. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.

Lupita Nyongo's stunning pearl-encrusted Oscars dress that was jacked from her hotel room has been returned, but it turns out the 6,000 pearls on the dress are all fake.TMZ received a call on Friday afternoon around 2:30 p.m. by a person who claimed he stole the Calvin Klein dress from Nyong'o's hotel room at The London West Hollywood. The thief says he left the dress in a bathroom on the second floor of the same hotel, which is where Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies recovered the dress after TMZ passed on the tip.

The caller said he noticed the actress' hotel room door was slightly ajar on Tuesday, and seized the opportunity to move in and take the dress. He and a few accomplices took two pearls off the dress and brought them to the Garment District where they were told they were fake. Although the dress had been reported to be worth $150,000, the thief said the dress was practically worthless and returned the dress to expose "Hollywood's fake bullshit."

Whatever it is that's sewed onto the dress, authorities are still treating it as any other crime. "It doesn't change anything in our investigation," said Lieutenant Michael White of the LASD to the L.A. Times.

So who even said the dress was worth six-figures and encrusted with thousands of real pearls in the first place? According to TMZ, the only person ever quoted making those claims was Nyong'o's stylist. A source connected told the website that Calvin Klein never made any claims about the dress and added, "Do they really make dresses out of real jewels since Cleopatra died?"

One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.

You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.

If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief

Make your tax-deductible donation today