Karlie Kloss opened up about her political beliefs in the wake of that viral Project Runway moment
On a January 1st episode of Project Runway, supermodel and host Karlie Kloss—who’s married to Joshua Kushner, of those Kushners—experienced a majorly awkward moment after one of the contestants commented on her ties to the Trump administration. The incident subsequently went viral. In response, on a January 16th episode of Watch What Happens Live, Kloss defended her marriage and her political stance.
On the Andy Cohen-hosted show, Kloss was asked about the now-infamous Project Runway moment, which took place during the judge-feedback portion of the show. The challenge was to design a look for the supermodel host to wear to an event in Paris, and contestant Tyler Neasloney was lambasted for creating a look that didn’t fit Kloss’s style.
Judge Brandon Maxwell said, “I cannot see Karlie wearing [that dress] anywhere, honestly,” to which Neasloney responded, “Not even to dinner with the Kushners?”
Shock and awe swept the audience, and the quip went viral on Twitter almost instantly.
"Not even to dinner with the Kushners?" I SCREAMED!!! #ProjectRunway pic.twitter.com/UWf4FaMxfB
— Luke (@TweetsByLuke) January 3, 2020
Obviously, Neasloney’s comment was taken by Kloss, fellow contestants, and the audience as a dig at the Kushner family and Kloss’s decision to marry into it.
Even though Kloss and Josh Kushner are registered Democrats who publicly supported Hillary Clinton in 2016, some believe their tie to Josh’s brother, Jared Kushner—husband to Ivanka Trump, senior advisor to President Trump, and the man currently “in charge” of brokering peace in the Middle East, building the infamous border wall, reforming the criminal justice system, and pulling together the president’s 2020 re-election campaign, among many other diverse duties—suggests they must have more conservative beliefs than they express outwardly.
A post shared by Karlie Kloss (@karliekloss) on Dec 1, 2019 at 8:22pm PST
Neasloney came back to the runway later in the episode to apologize for his comment, telling Kloss that he had no hidden political agenda whatsoever. He ultimately was voted off from the show at the end of that episode.
Though she was honored to be one of the first memes of the decade, Kloss told WWHL host Andy Cohen that her politics do not align with those of her in-laws.
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A post shared by Karlie Kloss (@karliekloss) on Nov 8, 2016 at 5:07am PST
Furthermore, Kloss told British Vogue in July 2019 that having conflicting political beliefs with her extended family is hard. “But I choose to focus on the values that I share with my husband, and those are the same liberal values that I was raised with and that have guided me throughout my life,” she said.
So, although Neasloney’s comment made for great TV, knowing the facts of the matter is what is most important. Kloss has set the record straight and now, as she pointed out, we can talk about another really important controversy: how bad that dress actually was.
