The truth will out. Or at least someone's version of the truth. Cathy Horyn played devil's advocate in her profile of Stella McCartney, she of the illustrious pop parentage and hugely successful eponymous fashion line. In discussing McCartney's rise to prominence, Horyn sheds light on a decade-old tale of Tom Ford, then creative director of Gucci, trying to woo Stella into his shoes. A story that McCartney maintains but that Ford, once the New York Times journalist asks him, openly refutes.

The story goes something like this:

According to McCartney, Tom Ford tried to persuade her over her protests that she didnt work with fur and leather to take the creative-director job at Gucci while he designed Yves Saint Laurent, which Gucci Group had recently acquired. He said: Just come to my studio and look at everything. Maybe youll do it, she recalled, shaking her head. As if all those exotic skins and corduroy hamster fur were going to turn me on and make me change my entire ethic.

But when Horyn brings this up to Ford, he sings an all-together different tune:

It was never a conversation about taking over at Gucci. I think she might have interpreted that at a certain point. He said he was aware of previous statements she made in the press, but I just never corrected her.

And Stella, being full of British cheek and verve, responded like the friggin' lady she is:

Oh, hes a lying, cheating . . . what? McCartney exclaimed, when I repeated his comment. Thats the weirdest thing. Why would he take me into an office and show me every dead animal? Oops! She laughed and, frowning, said to me: How are you going to handle that? Stella says she got offered Gucci but she didnt . . . LOSER! She continued to chuckle.

As we all know, Tom Ford can take himself too seriously at times, something Stella could rarely be accused of doing. But honestly, so much of Gucci's aesthetic is wrapped up in luxe furs and opulence for opulence sakes, thanks to Ford, that Stella would've been an odd fit anyway.

Anyway, the moral of this story, kids, is that Cathy Horyn will blow up your spot so you better get your facts straight. #TheMoreYouKnow. [The Cut via NYT]