From Blake Lively to Law Roach: Which celebrities are skipping the Met Gala this year?
The Met Gala is returning tonight in New York City. This year, celebrities have been asked to dress “in honour of Karl” – ie, Karl Lagerfeld, the fashion designer and former Chanel creative director, who died in 2019.
Anna Wintour, who oversees the event at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is welcoming Roger Federer, Michaela Coel, Penélope Cruz, and Dua Lipa as her co-chairs.
The benefit accompanies the Met’s Costume Institute’s fashion exhibit “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty”, which opens to the public on 5 May.
While the Met Gala guest list is typically the subject of much secrecy – and a healthy dose of speculation – at least three celebrities have confirmed they will not be in attendance this year. Rumours are swirling around another few.
Here is a breakdown of the confirmed and rumoured absences from the 2023 Met Gala red carpet:
Confirmed
Blake Lively
Much to her fan’s chagrins, Blake Lively told People she would not attend this year’s event. Lively is typically one of the event’s best-dressed guests, and she even co-chaired it last year.
Asked whether people would spot her on tonight’s red carpet, Lively replied: “You will not. But I will be watching.”
Law Roach
The celebrity stylist, who announced his retirement in March, said in an interview with The Cut that his decision to step away from the industry extends to the Met Gala.
“I feel so free,” Roach told the magazine. “I feel a freedom that I don’t remember ever feeling. And no matter what, if I come back, which I don’t have plans on coming back —”
Lindsay Peoples, The Cut’s editor-in-chief, interjected to ask: “So no Met Gala?”
“No Met Gala,” Roach confirmed.
Jonathan Majors
The actor was arrested in March in New York, on charges of strangulation, assault and harassment, The Associated Press reported at the time. He has denied any wrongdoing.
The following month, Deadline reported that Majors and the fashion house Valentino had “’mutually agreed’ that the actor would not be attending this year’s Met Gala as one of its guests.”
Rumoured
Katy Perry
There is a chance that Katy Perry, a Met Gala veteran who famously attended the 2019 after-party dressed as a burger, won’t appear at this year’s event.
According to Just Jared, she won’t be able to make it because of a live taping of American Idol – on which she is a judge – on Monday evening.
However, Perry was spotted in New York City as celebrities started making their way towards the Big Apple ahead of the gala, as noted by Page Six. Perry is also scheduled to perform at King Charles’s coronation on 7 May, an event for which American Idol – which is also airing that day – would presumably contingency plans.
Perry remained vague when ET quizzed her about both events.
“You'll just have to tune in and wait and see. The hologram is finally real!” she said of American Idol.
As for the Met Gala, she joked: “I'm sending Zooey Deschanel in my place. Hi, Zoe. I love you!”
Anne Hathaway
The last time Anne Hathaway attended the Met Gala was in 2018. Prior to that, she attended the event with some regularity, in 2015, 2014, 2013, 2010, and 2009.
Hathaway did not attend in 2019. The following year, the Met Gala was canceled due to the pandemic. When it returned in 2021 and 2022, Hathaway did not show up at either event. Whether she breaks her streak this year remains to be seen.
Harry Styles
Styles made his most recent appearance – which was also his first – at the Met Gala in 2019.
The celebrity updates account DeuxMoi suggested that Styles might not attend this year’s event either, as he appears not to be in the US at the moment, although that remains to be confirmed.
