Karl Lagerfeld is accusing Meryl Streep of canceling a Chanel dress for this year's Oscars, claiming that the actress opted instead for a gown she would be paid to wear.

Lagerfeld told Women's Wear Daily on Thursday that the Academy Awards darling had approached him about wearing an embroidered gray silk gown from Chanel's latest couture collection, ordering the dress and requesting it be altered for a higher neckline. Lagerfeld claimed the sketch and work had begun when he received a call from Streep's team saying, "Don’t continue the dress. We found somebody who will pay us."

Actresses are often approached to showcase new pieces for a paycheck—a practice Lagerfeld insists Chanel does not follow. (He does admit to gifting the dresses to the wearers but not giving them an additional income for representing the brand.)

The creative director of Chanel continued, calling Streep "a genius actress" but adding, "cheapness also, no?"

Streep's team vehemently denied the situation, telling The Hollywood Reporter, it is "against [Streep's] personal ethics to be paid to wear a gown on the red carpet."

The actress will attend Sunday's Academy Awards—it has not yet been revealed which designer she will be wearing instead of Chanel—as a Best Actress nominee for her role in Florence Foster Jenkins. (It's her twentieth nomination, after having already won three golden statuettes.)

Related: How Bad Does a Movie Have to Be for Meryl Streep to Not Get an Oscar Nomination? I Watched 23 to Find Out