Louise Linton’s outfit that she showed off on Instagram in a post that prompted a social media firestorm and has been widely bashed as tone-deaf cost close to a whopping $15,000.
Linton, 36, shared a photo of herself getting off a taxpayer-funded plane with her husband, 54-year-old Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, on Instagram on Monday. She took care to tag the luxury designers she was wearing on the shot, including Tom Fort, Hermes, Valentino and Roland Mouret.
A mother of three from Oregon named Jenni Miller called out Linton in the comments section, telling her the post was ‘deplorable’ and saying ironically, presumably on behalf of taxpayers: ‘Glad we could pay for your little getaway.’ She received a long, angry rant from Linton in return, in which the actress accused Miller of being ‘adorably out of touch’.
Big bucks: Louise Linton’s outfit that she showed off on Instagram in a post that prompted a social media firestorm and has been widely bashed as tone-deaf cost close to $15,000
As revealed by a closer examination of Linton’s outfit, her handbag, a white Hermes Birkin, retails at $11,900.
The actress’ Roland Mouret pants, meanwhile, are the second priciest element and cost an impressive $955.
Next in line are her shoes, ivory-colored Valentino Rockstud pumps worth $845.
Linton’s scarf also comes from Hermes, and added $395 to the total.
Her sunglasses, which she indicated are from Tom Ford with the hashtag #tomford sunnies, can be purchased for $445.
This brings the total of Linton’s outfit to a staggering $14,540.
Sharing: Linton, 36, posted a photo of herself getting off a taxpayer-funded plane with her husband Steven Mnuchin, on Instagram on Monday and tagged the designers she wore
Naming: In her original post, Linton described the expensive brands she was wearing thanks to hashtags such as #tomford sunnies and #hermesscarf
Linton’s picture shows her and her new hubby, whom she married in June, stepping out of a government-owned plane during his official visit to Fort Knox on Monday.
The image was innocuous, but Linton made the questionable decision to segue from the standard cheerful hashtags to a systematic namedrop of all of the brands in her outfit.
‘Great #daytrip to #Kentucky!’ she wrote. ‘#nicest #people #beautiful #countryside #rolandmouret pants #tomford sunnies #hermesscarf #valentinorockstudheels #valentino’.
She concluded with a perfunctory-looking ‘#usa’.
A screengrab from account posted by a CNN journalist showed a second image of Linton and Mnuchin leaving the plane.
That one had apparently had the fashion hashtags removed – and had the companies she’d name-dropped tagged in the picture itself instead.
That post invoked Miller’s ire—and things went downhill from there.
‘Cute! [kissing face emoji] Aw!!! Did you think this was a personal trip?!’ replied Linton, who recently concluded a Europe-trotting honeymoon with Mnuchin.
‘Adorable! Do you think the US Govt paid for our honeymoon or personal travel?’
‘Lololol. Have you given more to the economy than me and my husband?’ continued the minor TV and movie actress whose new, second husband’s net worth was estimated by Forbes to be more than $500 million.
‘Either as an individual earner in taxes OR in self sacrifice to your country?’
‘I’m pretty sure we paid more taxes toward our day “trip” than you did,’ she added—the quote marks around ‘trip’ being hers, despite the fact that she had hashtagged #daytrip in her initial comment.
‘Pretty sure that the amount we sacrifice per year is a lot more than you’d be willing to sacrifice if the choice was yours. [arm flex emoji, kissing face emoji]’ she continued.
Linton, who grew up in a castle in Scotland, then told the mother of three: ‘You’re adorably out of touch.’
She then used a heart-eyes emoji before writing, with no apparent irony, ‘Thanks for the passive-aggressive nasty comment.’
However, at that point the tone of her response changes abruptly, to be more positive and conciliatory.
Perhaps she noticed how brusque she had been—but decided to leave the first part of the message in anyway.
‘Your kids look very cute,’ she wrote, ‘Your life looks cute. I know you’re mad but deep down you’re nice and so am I.
‘Sending me passive aggressive Instagram comments isn’t going to make life feel better. Maybe a nice message, one filled with wisdom and hunanity [sic] would get more traction.
‘Have a pleasant evening. Go chill out and watch the new Game of Thrones. It’s fab!’
Follower of fashion: Linton posted the photo of her and Mnuchin visiting Fort Knox on Monday. That led to a comment by user jennimiller29, and a response from Milton (pictured)
Apology: On Tuesday, Linton offered a curt apology, writing: ‘I apologize for my post on social media yesterday as well as my response. It was inappropriate and highly insensitive’
In touch? Linton (seen wearing $30,000 of clothing with Mnuchin in Edinburgh at the start of their honeymoon) called the mother-of-three ‘out of touch’ and boasted about taxes she pays
Screenshots of the photos and comments then did the rounds on Twitter—leading to much mockery and derision.
Finally, on Tuesday afternoon—a day after the social media showdown—Linton’s publicist offered this curt apology: ‘I apologize for my post on social media yesterday as well as my response. It was inappropriate and highly insensitive.’
Meanwhile, Miller, 44, who was the target of Linton’s angry rant on Instagram, spoke out during an interview with CNN on Wednesday.
She explained she usually refrains from posting comments on social media, but couldn’t resist speaking up after seeing Linton’s post.
‘Honestly, it was probably just a weak moment for me,’ she said.
‘I was frustrated already by some stories I had just read about the Secret Service running out of overtime money because of the excesses of the administration’s travel schedule, and then saw this woman who I didn’t know who she was.’
She then explained that she recognized the Treasury Secretary and correctly assumed the woman in his photo was his wife, whom Miller said was ‘getting off of a government plane for what I assumed was a government trip and basically advertising for all of these European, you know, high-end brands that your average person couldn’t afford’.
Linton’s post, she said, seemed especially wrong because the actress was in Kentucky, ‘one of the poorest states in our country’.
After reading Linton’s response, Miller told CNN she found herself both ‘a little bit amused and a little bit horrified’.
‘But mostly just confused as to why she would take the time or effort or energy to put together such a response,’ she added.
The mother then pointed out she has no respect for Linton.
‘You know, if I had any respect for her, it probably would have been hurtful, because she was very condescending,’ Miller said. ‘She made a lot of assumptions about me and my husband and my life and my family.’
‘Deplorable’: Miller went on the attack after Linton closed her Instagram account, dismissing her as ‘an aspiring Penthouse model’
Private: After the fuss created by her remarks, Linton set her Instagram account to private—meaning that her posts cannot be seen by anyone unless she gives them permission
Mom: Mother Jenni Miller (seen left with her youngest son, and right) said she shouldn’t have let Linton upset her, and questioned why she would show off her expensive labels
Spotted: Although it was ostensibly just a family visit, Mnuchin and Linton seemed happy to be photographed on the trip last month, before continuing on to mainland Europe
As of Monday evening, Linton’s Facebook account had been set to private, and new followers were being screened before they were allowed to see the images.
Miller posted her own response on Instagram after the virtual encounter.
‘Apparently I offended this deplorable girl I had never heard of until today,’ she wrote alongside a screenshot of a June article titled ‘A “white savior” memoirist widely mocked in Africa has married Trump’s treasury secretary.’
‘According to my 20 second Google search, she’s an aspiring Penthouse model who married an old rich guy in a wedding officiated by a homophobe and attended by other couples of similar age and beauty gaps,’ Miller continued.
‘She says she’s a nice person. I doubt it. There weren’t any Nazi sympathizers at my wedding. #byelouise’
The encounter between the two women led to complaints by others on Twitter, as users denounced Linton’s post and her response.
Linton’s own Twitter account has been set to ‘protected,’ stopping outsiders from seeing it.
Her Wikipedia page was also edited to include the line ‘Never forget she posted this on Instagram’ with a link to a Tweet showing copies of the offending post and comment.
‘Never forget’: Linton’s Wikipedia page was also edited to include a link to a Twitter update with pictures of her offending Instagram post and comment
Newlyweds: Mnuchin and Linton are seen here at their wedding on June 24, with President Trump, the First Lady, and VP Mike Pence and his wife
Home away from home: Linton grew up in Melville Castle (pictured), which is based outside of Edinburgh in Scotland, and is owned by her family
A Treasury Department spokesman told The Washington Post that the Mnuchins paid for Linton’s travel on the flight, which was cleared on the proper channels.
He also said Linton didn’t get any ‘financial compensation’ for the items that she tagged in the image.
Linton has been doing her best to increase her profile and be perceived as a style star in the past few weeks, beginning with her honeymoon trip to Scotland.
She managed to cut through the gloomy weather on the day she arrived back in her home country wearing a $3450 white wool coat which she draped over a $1290 long-sleeved v-neck top and $890 black slacks, with a pair of $735 stiletto pumps rounding out the look.
That entire look was courtesy of Ford, with Linton perhaps taking advantage of the ocean separating her from new friend Melania Trump to pull out the luxurious threads given the contentious relationship between the designer and the First Lady.
Mockery: Linton (seen with Mnuchin in a $30k wardrobe in Edinburgh last month) has come under fire before, after her memoir about living in Africa on her gap year was mocked as misleading
For bit of label contrast, the Hollywood producer also accessorized the look with an $11,500 black Hermes Birkin bag and $700 over-sized Chanel sunglasses.
She finished off her entrance look with an unexpected bit of color thanks to her $5,000 Goyard cloth bag, which likely had her change of clothes for the couple’s next outing.
That brought the price tag of that look to $23,565, a whooping sum that dos not even include the bracelets Linton has piled on her wrists or her massive engagement ring.
Louise made stops outside the airport and the pair’s hotel for waiting photographer’s before she and Mnuchin headed into their hotel.
The pair were quickly in and out of the Caledonian Waldorf Astoria Hotel however, with Mnuchin reappearing in the same outfit as earlier that day.
And like his wife, it looked to be a mostly Tom Ford ensemble, with Mnuchin appearing to have on a pair of $690 jeans, the $3800 Blue O’Connor Slim-Fit Wool Suit Jacket and a $585 slim-fit blue shirt by the designer.
Linton was feeling a different vibe by midday however, managing to undergo a quick change inside inside the couple’s hotel.
She went with a grab bag of designers for her lunchtime look, with a $975 hydrangea print pussybow blouse by Dolce & Gabbana taking center stage over a pair of $2000 black trousers from The Row.
To top off her lunch look, Linton kept the Tom Ford stilettos but swapped out her Birkin for an over-sized Chanel, opting for the label’s $6,000 large classic handbag in black.
That ensemble put that look at well over $10,000, a number that again did not account for the jewelry worn by the diamond-loving actress.