A fake Tom Ford tweet calling Melania Trump a 'glorified escort' has gone viral

'Never, ever, ever, have I said that Melania was an escort'
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Megan C. Hills20 March 2019

Melania Trump and Tom Ford are at the centre of a row this week after a fake quote was attributed to Ford which called the First Lady “a glorified escort”. The false quote, which was featured on a now deleted Twitter post by user @fras99, quickly went viral and led to threats of a brand boycott.

The original tweet featured a graphic which read, “Tom Ford refuses to dress Melania Trump: ‘I have no interest in dressing a glorified escort who steals speeches and has bad taste in men.’”

EPA

Ford quickly began trending on Twitter, with the quote attracting the attention of “a politically-charged digital frenzy led largely by those on the far-right of the political spectrum” according to The Fashion Law.

Shortly afterwards, Ford’s team issued a statement which read, “This is an absolutely fabricated and completely fake quote that has somehow gone viral. Mr. Ford did not make this statement; it is completely false.”

Since then, the user has deleted the tweet and issued an apology which read, “My sincere apologies for the Tom Ford post I posted... It wasn’t intentionally [sic] please accept my apologies once again.”

In another incredible twist, it turns out that the original user had been misled as he said seen a doctored news headline which included the quote.

EPA

While it has been reported that Tom Ford has previously said he would not dress Melania Trump, the original journalist of the article Chris Spargo shared a post clarifying that the doctored headline was in fact a false meme alongside the real headline.

Tom Ford has in the past said he declined to dress Melania Trump. Speaking on The View, Ford revealed that the request had come prior to her time in the White House and said, “She’s not necessarily my image.”

Ford, who has in the past dressed former First Lady Michelle Obama and is a self-proclaimed Democrat, also added that he would not have dressed Donald Trump’s opponent Hillary Clinton. He explained that his clothes would make it difficult for people who wanted to appear relatable to the public and said, “Even had Hillary won, she shouldn’t be wearing my clothes. They’re too expensive.”

When the furore over the tweet escalated, Tom Ford spoke with WWD about the controversy. He clarified, “Never, ever, ever, have I said that Melania was an escort. I said on The View years ago, before [Trump] was elected, that I would not dress her nor would I dress Hillary Clinton because the First Lady and the President in the White House need to be wearing clothes made in America - mine are not - and clothes at a price point that most Americans can relate to and my clothes are too expensive.”

Michelle Obama wearing Tom Ford at Buckingham Palace
Getty Images

He continued, “That’s all I said. I’ve never said anything derogatory about Melania. I would never say anything derogatory. It’s so weird, isn’t it, in today’s world the way someone out of nowhere can just make up a random quote and start circulating it on the Internet?”

Tom Ford has just been named the next Chairman of the Council of Fashion Designers of America - a role that was held for years by Diane von Furstenberg. A letter mailed to CFDA members read according to WWD, “Tom Ford’s vast experience and knowledge will be of great value to the CFDA and the membership in support of our mission to bring greater visibility and opportunity to American designers globally.”

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