Law Roach reacts to Priyanka Chopra’s “Hurtful” sample size remarks
“It was her gatekeepers,” the celebrity stylist explained in an interview with the New York Magazine‘s The Cut
Attorney Roach is speaking out in response to recent remarks made by Priyanka Chopra Jonas, a former client.
In an interview with New York Magazine’s The Cut, famed image architect, and recently retired celebrity stylist Law Roach responded to the actress’s claims.
Roach, 44, said it was “a little bit hurtful” to hear that in the press after Chopra Jonas revealed that a stylist (whom she did not identify) had made her weep over not being “sample sized,” since she looked to be discussing the Oscars event he had styled her for the night before.
The Citadel actor, 40, shared a tale with Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke during the opening of the 2023 South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival related to an anecdote that happened just the day before that rocked her self-confidence.
“I’ve been told many things that are difficult to hear. In my job, the pressure is so intense, you can’t really show the chinks in your armor,” she shared. “Someone told me yesterday that I wasn’t sample-sized… I was hurt and I discussed it with my family, and I cried to my husband [Nick Jonas], and my team and I felt really bad about the fact that I’m not sample size, and that’s a problem, apparently, and most of us are not, and the sample size is size 2.”
Roach disputed the story “because that wasn’t the real conversation.”
“I’ve never had that conversation with her, ever,” he told The Cut. “So again, it is her gatekeepers, how they presented what I said to her to make her feel that way. And if that made her feel bad, that wasn’t — it was taken out of context.
“But I’m sure it was taken outta context to get her to be like, ‘Oh, okay, I’m not working with him no more. He’s insensitive to my body.’ Which I’m like, ‘How is that possible? I’ve been dressing you for literally pre-pandemic, and it’s been nothing but great things,’ ” added Roach.
He stated that stylists are frequently placed in a difficult position in response to the outlet’s question about whether he believed her agents were attempting to make him seem bad.
“I think sometimes what it is with them is that they have an agenda and I need to be the bad guy because I’m the one who’s dealing with the clothes and the body,” said Roach, who recently won the CFDA award for best stylist.
“I need to be the one who says, you know — and I’m not talking about her. I’m just talking about in general — I need to be the one to say, ‘Oh, you know, be careful because, you know, the pictures aren’t as beautiful because you coming across, you know, a little thicker than you used to be.’ It is, like, so they’ll say that to me or have a discussion with me but then take it back as if I was the lead in the discussion. And I’m not saying that’s exactly what happened, but that’s what feels like happened to me,” Roach added.
The stylist afterward confessed his love for Chopra Jonas. “But given how much I adore Priyanka, I was genuinely shocked. There aren’t many ladies in this field that possess that quality, but you can tell when she’s around. I’m always inspired by ladies, and Sophia Loren has this vibe that is so Old Hollywood, and I can’t stand it “He gushed.
“She has a twinkle, she has a wiggle, and I love her, like, even as a person,” Roach added.
Roach said in a statement that he’s taking “some time to walk away” from the work and “concentrate on me for the first time in nearly a decade” after announcing his retirement last week in a since-deleted Instagram post.
“For me, fashion has always been a love, not a job. I’ve spent so much time and energy nurturing this love, and it has become my way of communicating with the world,” explained Roach, noting that he doesn’t “plan to walk away from it entirely.”
Roach, who has created iconic looks for stars like Zendaya, Céline Dion, Mary J. Blige, Ariana Grande, and many others, first announced the news online. In his message, he wrote, “My Cup is empty.