All eyes will soon be on the stairs of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City as pop culture enthusiasts everywhere tune in to see entertainment’s finest as they examine this year’s Met Gala theme and turn it into an iconic fashion moment. Vogue‘s editor-in-chief Anna Wintour hosts the event each year, and the guest list slowly revealing itself is almost as exciting as finding out the theme of the big night.
Each year, the Met Gala has a theme for which guests are set to dress accordingly for, and this year it’s giving them a moment to honor the late and great Karl Lagerfeld. The celebs attending have been given the dress code of: ‘Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty’ set to honor and memorialize his contributions to the industry as a whole. The theme this year is undeniably an emotional one, and we can’t wait to see the fashion choice of those who will soon make their way up the staircase to the invitation-only event that outsiders will ever only see in glimpses from celebrity Snapchat and Instagram stories.
Some celebrities have become synonymous with the Met Gala, with fans anticipating their red-carpet entrance for weeks before the event. The first Monday in May belongs to the Met, and this year, we’ve got a lot to examine before this year’s big event. So who is confirmed to be attending this year, who are fan sites saying we should keep our eyes peeled for, and what icons of years past won’t be attending this year? Sit back, grab your favorite fashion magazine, and relax — because we’ve got you covered.
We can’t wait to see these stars on the Met steps
Stars are less than 24 hours away from the big evening, and many of them will begin preparing for the Met Gala early tomorrow morning. So who should fans look forward to seeing on the steps tomorrow? There are two lists of “confirmed” guests so far. One by an unofficial Twitter account for the Met Gala and another shared from TODAY.
Hosting alongside Anna Wintour are her co-chairs for the big night: Penélope Cruz, Dua Lipa, Roger Federer, and Michaela Coel. In addition to those with a big part in tomorrow’s highly anticipated event are Elle Fanning and Rita Ora. So many celebrities do not announce their Met Gala status because the guest list remains relatively private until the big event, allowing everyone to be wowed by the attendees in their looks for the big night.
The unofficial Twitter account for the Met Gala likely includes a list based on years past, celebrities in high demand right now, and the theme of tomorrow’s ceremony. Some of the stars the account said will be in attendance tomorrow are Nicola & Brooklyn Peltz Beckham, Halle Bailey, Zendaya, Jenna Ortega, Austin Butler, Olivia Rodrigo, Tom Holland, Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Lil Nas X, Rihanna, A$AP Rocky, and Mindy Kaling.
Looking back at Met Galas of days past, most of the celebrities listed have shown up with show-stopping looks for the big event, and we wouldn’t be surprised if some of the anticipated guests play up their upcoming roles while honoring Karl Lagerfeld and the theme of the night; here’s looking at Robbie and Gosling.
The red carpet event kicks off tomorrow evening at 6pm, so we don’t have much longer to wait until we start seeing the celebrities we know and love in what will undeniably set a fashion standard for 2023.
Has anyone been banned from the Met Gala?
Getting an invitation to the Met Gala is sort of like winning the lottery as far as the celebrity social circle is concerned. In fact, some stars wait for years to get their first invite, and it’s a highly coveted thing. While some celebs will desire to go and not be selected for reasons that aren’t deeply personal, other celebs who have been invited before will find themselves on an axed list for one reason or another. Be it a statement made or something that happened at the ceremony, Wintour says some celebs just aren’t invited back to the Met Gala in any capacity.
Donald Trump is the one celebrity Anna Wintour said she’d never invite to the Met Gala, as she shared with James Corden in a round of Spill Your Guts; the response seemed easy for the fashion icon, who explained no further. Although, the name alone sort of says it all, doesn’t it?
She was only asked to name one celeb, but Cosmopolitan shares that Trump isn’t the only person to get the official axe from Wintour. Some other stars who have been invited before aren’t welcome back to the ceremony for a number of reasons.
Tim Gunn is said to be uninvited to the event because of a statement he made about the most unforgettable thing he’d ever seen in fashion, which has to do with the legendary Wintour herself.
“I was asked what is the most unforgettable thing I’ve ever seen in fashion, And I said it’s easy; it was watching Anna Wintour being carried down five flights of stairs by two bodyguards from a fashion show.”
That’s not all Gunn said about Wintour, also sharing a story about her less than stellar behavior regarding a flight attendant, but one thing is clear — he’s very unlikely to be invited to a Met Gala again in the future.
Amy Schumer hasn’t been put on a ban list by any means, but she did speak with Howard Stern in 2016 about how the whole thing just didn’t interest her anymore.
“It’s people doing an impression of having a conversation. I don’t like the farce.…We’re dressed up like a bunch of fucking assholes. I don’t like it. I have no interest in fashion.…I don’t care.”
Cosmo also shared Tina Fey’s strong opinion regarding the Met Gala, which aligns well with what Schumer said about her experience at the star-studded event.
“I have gone to it once and it is such a jerk parade. Clearly, I’ll never go again, but you go and it’s this beautiful space and it’s just every jerk from every walk of life is there wearing some stupid thing. You walk up these huge steps…and I went and I dragged my husband along with me too, which I’m still in trouble for.”
Not mincing words, some fans who have been asked to attend the event just don’t think it lines up with their idea of the best way to spend the first Monday of May, and they can’t be faulted for that. While it does seem like a dream to be invited, walk up those stairs and rub elbows with some of your peers; it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. As the entertainment realm has exposed recently, a lot of the bigwigs in the business aren’t exactly the kind of people they led us all to believe for decades, and there are very clear reasons celebrities wouldn’t want to spend an evening with them.
Some celebs have a love-hate relationship with the event, like Tom Ford, who has spoken out about the Met Gala while still attending it as a co-chair in 2022. We’ve undeniably been there before; it’s like when you want to be invited to something even if you don’t really feel like going — we get it, Tom! TIME reports that Ford had the following to say about what the Met Gala has evolved into in recent years.
“That used to just be very chic people wearing very beautiful clothes going to an exhibition about the 18th century. You didn’t have to look like the 18th century, you didn’t have to dress like a hamburger, you didn’t have to arrive in a van where you were standing up because you couldn’t sit down because you wore a chandelier.”
Ford sure knows how to throw a little shade, doesn’t he?
These celebs will be MIA this year
One very noticeable absence this year will be that of Blake Lively, and fans are somewhat distraught about it. While Lively recently had a new baby and has every right to choose not to attend, fans always count down to seeing her looks on the big night. It feels like a little something will undeniably be missing this year, but we’re sure we’ve not seen the last of her at the Met Gala just yet.
Gwyneth Paltrow, Zayn Malik, Demi Lovato, Tina Fey, and Lena Dunham, to name a few, have also shared their displeasure with recent Met Gala events, and we’d be willing to bet that they won’t be in attendance this year.
You can see the stars enter the big night starting at 6pm ET via a few different sources. Vogue Online will be streaming the event, and if you’re a cable subscriber, you can watch the E! Red Carpet event Live from E! on Monday evening. Here’s to a beautiful theme, a ceremony to honor a great, and some incoming stellar fashion looks we’ll discuss for months. The Met Gala is almost here, and we can’t wait to see the stars as they ascend those beautiful stairs.
