An elegant French Revolution-themed Halloween party turned into a catfight that would have made Marie Antoinette proud.
Guests at the fancy fête watched as designer Tory Burch and “Odd Mom Out” creator Jill Kargman got into a war of words that ended with Burch bluntly barking, “You should take a good look in the mirror, because you won’t like what you see!”
The confrontation, at a society bash in Manhattan’s West Village, started as Burch unexpectedly came face to face with Kargman.
Burch was furious about a reference to her foundation, which helps female entrepreneurs, in a July episode of Kargman’s TV satire. In the scripted Bravo series, Abby Elliott’s fashion-designer character is interviewed by Vanity Fair’s Derek Blasberg, who says, “I heard Tory Burch started a charity to empower gold diggers to stand up to their oppressors and divorce their husbands. It’s called Melania’s Tower.”
Before the episode aired, staff at the Tory Burch Foundation demanded that Bravo edit the line out, which they did. A reference to Burch also vanished from a Vogue.com piece about Kargman’s series.
Spies at Saturday’s party watched in horror as Burch said to Kargman, “What you did was incredibly rude to women who are trying hard to make ends meet. They are not gold diggers, my foundation is to help women entrepreneurs.” Another source insisted Burch added, over the loud music, “The line you said about me on your show was pathetic.”
Kargman responded, “It was a joke in a comedy show,” adding that Burch didn’t have a sense of humor and “Your behavior is crazy!”
The designer hit back — believing Kargman had called her “bat- -t crazy” — by saying, “I am not bats – – t crazy. What you did isn’t funny.” Burch added, “You should take a good look in the mirror, because you won’t like what you see on the inside,” as Kargman left.
Sources close to Kargman insist Burch’s parting shot actually was, “You must hate what you see when you look in the mirror.”
The scene stunned partygoers dressed in wigs and baroque gowns, including Cynthia Rowley, Eric Schmidt, Stefano Tonchi and Prince Pavlos and Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece.
Burch said in a statement Monday, “Especially in these times it’s so important that we support and amplify efforts to empower women, not ridicule them. I don’t think there’s anything funny about the wage gap or the obstacles women in business continue to face.”
Kargman added, “It is sad that what we considered an homage was taken as offensive. It wasn’t mean-spirited, the lead character in my show wants to emulate Tory Burch.”