21 Celebrities Who Hated the Met Gala: Surprising Reasons Revealed

Jessica SagerSun, May 3, 2026 at 9:20 PM UTC

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The Met Gala is fashion's biggest night, but not all stars look forward to the famous "First Monday in May" fête.

Anna Wintour has curated the elite and iron-clad guest list for more than three decades, but numerous celebrities have never made an appearance: Angelina Jolie, Adele, Britney Spears (even in her heyday), Dolly Parton, Dwayne Johnson, Brad Pitt, Mariah Carey, everyone in the cast ofFriends (yes, even Jennifer Aniston) and even Leonardo DiCaprio are among the A-listers who've never bothered attending, though it's unknown if any of them were ever invited.

It costs tens of thousands of dollars for most to attend (though some stars and up-and-coming designers get freebies). Once you get there, don't expect to sit next to your boo, because no one gets a plus-one unless their guest is also famous—and even if they are, you won't be side-by-side at the party, and at times not even at the same table.

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"Never seat spouses next to each other," former Wintour assistant Sylvana Ward Durrett said in the documentary The First Monday in May, which chronicles the planning and behind-the-scenes action of the Met Gala. "The whole point of these things is to meet new people, and to be interested in what others are doing. What's the point if you come here to hang out with your husband?" (As it turns out, a lot of guests hate this, but more on that later.)

"A lot of thought goes into who sits next to who, if they sat together last year, if they've sat next to each other at other events, so much goes into it, it's shocking," Ward Durrett added. "A lot of power-brokering."

According to some Met Gala attendees, those dates who can't get in may not be missing much. Even some of the stars who've made it past the proverbial velvet rope have admitted that the party—which benefits the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute—sort of sucks.

From complaints about the food, the company, the conversation—and perhaps most crucially—the bar, these stars also hated their Met Gala experiences. But with Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams co-chairing the 2026 Met Gala, maybe guests will have a better time this year.

Related: Anna Wintour's Net Worth in 2026 Is Fit for a Met Gala Queen

Celebrities Who Hate the Met Gala1. Regé-Jean Page

Regé-Jean Page at the 2025 Met GalaPhoto by Dimitrios Kambouris on Getty Images

Regé-Jean Page felt awkward at the Met Gala, which he attended for the first time in 2022, then again in 2025. He met his You, Me, & Tuscany co-star Halle Bailey at the latter and said she was a (social) life saver for him.

"What no one tells you about the Met Gala is that everyone, almost everyone, is on their own," the Bridgerton alum explained to Esquire. "There's the most glamorous room, the most exclusive echelon of society, all utterly lost and alone and searching for connection. You’re dressed as well as you’re ever going to be dressed, but you’re also in a very vulnerable place, ready to lean on your costar immediately."

Related: Every Star Who's Admitted To Using Ozempic, Wegovy and Other Weight Loss Drugs (So Far)

2. Lili Reinhart

Lili Reinhart at the 2021 Met GalaPhoto by Sean Zanni on Getty Images

Hustlers and Riverdale star Lili Reinhart attended the Met Gala several times, but said that 2021 would likely be her last after she criticized Kim Kardashian bragging about losing weight to fit into Marilyn Monroe's famous gown in 2022.

"To openly admit to starving yourself for the sake of the Met Gala," she fumed in an Instagram Story at the time. "When you know very well that millions of young men and women are looking up to you and listening to your every word. The ignorance is otherworldly disgusting."

That October, she said in an interview with W Magazine, "[The Met Gala] was fun, but after going again this year, I don't think I'll be invited back. I said a certain something about a certain person in a certain dress."

Reinhart—who's long been open about her own struggles with anxiety and body image—added, "I have always wanted to stand for something, and while I don't like it if one comment by me turns into 17 articles in PEOPLE magazine, I never overthink what I post. It has to be a true representation of how I feel. And I would say that whether I had 100 followers or 100 million."

Related: See All of Kim Kardashian's Met Gala Looks Ever

3. Ashley Park

Ashley Park at the 2022 Met GalaPhoto by ANGELA WEISS on Getty Images

Ashley Park said that the 2022 and 2023 Met Galas were unpleasant for her, but each for different reasons—and neither of which was necessarily about the Met Ball itself.

She told PEOPLE of the 2022 Met Gala (her first ever), "I had a really bad sinuscold, so I think I was on, like, every over-the-counter medication that you could be on. I was on like, eight Advil like four times."

Ashley Park (with Jared Leto in the background at far right) at the 2023 Met GalaPhoto by Christopher Polk on Getty Images

Similar to what he did as the Joker in Suicide Squad, Jared Leto sort of ruined the 2023 Met Gala for her when he dressed as the lateKarl Lagerfeld'scat Choupette, and walked the red carpet at the same time as she did.

Jared Leto and Ashley Park at the 2023 Met GalaPhoto by Jamie McCarthy on Getty Images

"Jared Leto and his cat outfit, like, was a torment to me," the Emily in Parisstar, who was wearing Michael Kors that evening, lamented. "Like, I have no photos from that, from those stairs without Jared Leto revealing himself as a cat ... I was like, 'Please let me just get one good picture for [Kors].' "

Related: Ashley Park’s Net Worth in 2026 From ‘Emily in Paris,’ ‘Mean Girls’ and More

4. SZA

SZA at the 2022 Met GalaPhoto by Jamie McCarthy on Getty Images

Singer SZA confessed to Community Voices that attending the 2022 Met Gala was bad for her mental health because she felt so insecure.

"I hated my outfit," the "Kill Bill" singer, who wore a hot pink and black custom Vivienne Westwood Couture ensemble. "That was another mental health thing. You want to do your job, you want to show up, and all these people are excited for you to be there, but it's like, 'Damn, I don't feel confident,' or 'I don't feel comfortable,' or it's like, 'Oh, if my dress doesn't fit…,' and then there's all this weird comparison, and it's really unhealthy. And it's like, 'Damn, some people, like Lizzo, can have a really good time regardless of what is happening.'"

SZA was so miserable that she left early.

"I just tiptoed a couple blocks and caught a yellow cab back to my hotel because I was just overwhelmed," she admitted. "I had too much anxiety to wait for my cab in front of the crowd, and take pictures, and all those things. I didn't want to do that, so I was looking like a little dirty Cinderella running away with my shoes."

SZA and Lizzo at a 2024 Met Gala afterpartyPhoto by Gotham on Getty Images

Although the Met Gala itself isn't SZA's cup of tea, she still attended the 2024 Met Gala afterparties with Lizzo, and it looks like they had a fantastic time without all the pressures of the red carpet.

Related: ‘Good Days’ Indeed! SZA’s Net Worth in 2026 Is Anything but a ‘Snooze’

5. Lizzo

Lizzo at the 2022 Met GalaPhoto by Noam Galai on Getty Images

While Lizzo may have been confident at the 2022 Met Gala, per SZA, she vented on Instagram Live that the party was pretty terrible.

"There's a long f**king line, you've gotta wait. I was sweating in a big-a** coat, my feet were hurting," she said.

Lizzo said that once she got inside, the party didn't have chairs, cocktails or hors d'oeuvres, and, most egregiously, that the bar was bad, too.

"They were being really stingy with the liquor that night," she revealed. "[The bartender] was like, 'Red or white wine?' And I was like, 'Tequila! Do you know what I've been through? Do you know how many hours I've been in this corset? How long I've been in these damn shoes? Tequila!'"

Lizzo at the 2025 Met GalaPhoto by Arturo Holmes/MG25 on Getty Images

All that said, Lizzo is still a Met Gala regular and has affectionately called it a "prom for celebrities."

Related: Lizzo’s Net Worth in 2026 Is ‘Good as Hell!’ What She Makes and Which Icon Signed Her First Big Check

6. Billie Eilish

Billie Eilish at the 2021 Met GalaPhoto by Kevin Mazur/MG21 on Getty Images

Billie Eilish co-chaired the 2021 Met Gala, but said she found the entire experience very reminiscent of high school.

She explained toHoward Stern that December, "The main thing that night made me think or feel was how famous people are just literally nobodies. Just randos, and it's so weird. I was like, 'Wow, all these people are just somebody that's in class with you,' and you think this person's kinda annoying, you really like this person, you get along with this person, and everybody's just, like, embarrassed and insecure about what they're doing and saying."

Finneas and Billie Eilish at the 2023 Met GalaPhoto by Gilbert Carrasquillo on Getty Images

Fair enough—but she came back for more in 2022 and 2023, so it can't be that bad, right?

Related: Billie Eilish’s Net Worth in 2026and How the Grammy Winner Built It

7. Lourdes Leon

Lourdes Leon at the 2021 Met GalaPhoto by WWD on Getty Images

Madonna and ex Carlos Leon's daughter Lourdes Leon attended the 2021 Met Gala and felt it was awkward and boring.

"Maybe because it was my first time, but it felt crazy," she complained to Interview Magazine. "You're just shoved into a room with all these famous people and you’re supposed to talk to them and be their friend, even though you don't f**king know them. That's not my vibe."

The nepo baby added, "I'm sure it's fun if you're someone who is friends with a lot of famous people, but I'm not. I didn't know who the f**k to talk to. I felt so awkward that I literally called my boyfriend in the middle of it. But the dinner was fine."

Related: How a ‘Toxic’ Madonna Meltdown Ended Her Friendship with Gwyneth Paltrow: ‘She’s Awful’

8. Quannah Chasinghorse

Quannah Chasinghorse at the 2021 Met GalaPhoto by Kevin Mazur/MG21 on Getty Images

Climate activist and Indigenous model Quannah Chasinghorse hated the 2021 Met Gala for the exact opposite reasons Leon did.

Chasinghorse lamented to Business Insider, "It was just such a weird space to be in. I remember standing there and looking at everyone and feeling so alone. Like, really, really lonely. No one knew me. No one cared to ask. People are there for themselves and it shows."

She explained that she was there somewhat in protest of the year's theme, "In America: A Lexicon of Fashion," because of the United States colonizers' genocides against Indigenous Americans, but that wearing her turquoise and silver jewelry and facial tattoos helped her channel her ancestors and feel strong.

"No way am I celebrating America. If I were to celebrate anything it would be my Indigenous roots, my Indigeneity, who I am. Because of what America did to my people, I am proud to be here today," she said. "I just don't think I belong in spaces like that because I'm not an elitist. My way of walking in this world, in the industry, is so different compared to everyone else because I feel like I'm constantly having to break barriers."

Quannah Chasinghorse at the 2023 Met GalaPhoto by Lexie Moreland on Getty Images

Still, she returned to the Met Gala in 2023 and 2024, hanging out with Oscar-nominatedKillers of the Flower Moon star Lily Gladstone at the latter.

Lily Gladstone and Quannah Chasinghorse at the 2024 Met GalaPhoto by Arturo Holmes/MG24 on Getty Images

She told Nylon ahead of the 2024 Met Gala, where she wore custom H&M inspired by the Alaska state flower (forget-me-not), "My first year going, I did this article explaining that when you're in those spaces and you don't see anyone who looks like you, you're just kind of alone and you don't feel like you belong. And we've come so far from that. And the fact that I'm going for my fourth time, it's an honor and it's a blessing that I keep getting invited back to these spaces."

"I've actually talked to quite a few people who have told me it's their first year going," she added. "You get the nerves, but it's really nice to be able to be almost like a safe space for someone. It's really cool to have a bit more experience in those spaces ... I know that if I had someone I could go to, just how these people are coming to me, I would've felt a lot more relaxed and a lot more like I belonged."

Related: 21 Inspiring Activist Accounts to Follow to Learn About Indigenous American People, Issues and Life

9. Billy Porter

Billy Porter at the 2019 Met GalaPhoto by ANGELA WEISS on Getty Images

Honestly, Billy Porter absolutely slayed the 2019 Met Gala theme of "Notes on Camp": Adorned in head-to-toe gold, complete with wings and headdress, the Pose star had shirtless men carry him onto the red carpet to celebrate the Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibit of Egyptian art.

Then he never went back.

When asked on Bevelations if he would attend the 2026 Met Gala, Porter replied, "No, I'm not going. I have not been invited. I haven't been invited back since 2019."

Porter, who pointed out that Ryan Murphy invited him to the 2019 Met Gala, said he was particularly miffed when he wasn't invited in 2025, which celebrated Black Dandyism and the theme "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style."

"I'm just going to throw that out there. I'm good. It's all good," he said. "But the reality is when people ask me, you I was not invited and I'm good, and I don't go to places where I'm not welcome."

Noting that he doesn't require "validation from the outside" to know his worth as a person, he added, "So I'm going to sit and live in that, because it helps keep me sane too."

That said, Porter has a history with Wintour.

In a 2021 interview with the Sunday Times, Porter griped that having Harry Styles wear a dress on the December 2020 cover of Vogue—the first man to ever be the fashion bible's cover model—rubbed him the wrong way, because other men and nonbinary people have been taking risks with their clothes for a much longer time.

"I feel like the fashion industry has accepted me because they have to. I created the conversation and yet Vogue still put Harry Styles, a straight white man, in a dress on their cover for the first time," he said. "I was the first one doing it and now everybody is doing it. I'm not dragging Harry Styles, but … He doesn't care, he's just doing it because it's the thing to do. This is politics for me. This is my life."

The following month, Porter apologized to Styles for the remark and gave further context of his words in a sit-down on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

"It is about the systems of oppression and erasure of people of color who contribute to the culture," he explained. "I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't mean no harm. I'm a gay man. We like Harry. He's cute."

In a 2023 interview with the Telegraph, Porter said that putting "white and straight" Styles on the December 2020 Vogue was a mistake that he warned Wintour about prior to its release.

"It doesn't feel good to me. You're using my community—or your people are using my community—to elevate you. You haven't had to sacrifice anything," he said of his feelings of Styles on the cover.

He added that the perpetually-bobbed editrix asked him for insight before publishing the issue.

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"That b***h said to me at the end, 'How can we do better?' And I was so taken off guard that I didn't say what I should have said," Porter recalled. "Six months later, Harry Styles is the first man on the cover."

"It's not Harry Styles' fault that he happens to be white and cute and straight and fit into the infrastructure that way," he added. "I call out the gatekeepers."

He said that he wished he told Wintour, "'Use your power as Vogue to uplift the voices of the leaders of this de-gendering of fashion movement.'"

Related: All About ‘Pose’ Star Billy Porter’s Net Worth in 2026

10. Ben Platt

Ben Platt at the 2017 Met GalaPhoto by Taylor Hill on Getty Images

Broadway star Ben Platt went to the Met Gala for the first time in 2017 and, like Chasinghorse, felt a bit lonely.

"You're not allowed to bring a plus one, so the first time I went, I did a lap around the cocktails and tried to find somebody I knew and then failed and sort of left," he said on the Jess Cagle Show. "And [I] didn't make it through the event because I was like, 'I don't really have anybody to talk to.'"

Ben Platt and Noah Galvin at the 2024 Met GalaPhoto by Cindy Ord/MG24 on Getty Images

Since then, he's returned for several more and had a much better time—he attended with his now-husband Noah Galvin in 2024!

Related: Award-Winning Actor and Broadway Star Ben Platt’s ‘Beautiful’ Cover of an Iconic Pop Hit Has Fans Losing It: ‘This Is His Song Now’

11. Demi Lovato

Demi Lovato at the 2016 Met GalaPhoto by Neilson Barnard on Getty Images

Demi Lovato, who has been open about her battles with eating disorders and addiction, was nearly triggered to relapse with alcohol when she attended the 2016 Met Gala.

"I had a terrible experience. This one celebrity was a complete bitch and was miserable to be around," the "Tell Me You Love Me" singer told Billboard. "It was very cliquey. I remember being so uncomfortable that I wanted to drink."

Thankfully, Lovato instead beelined to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in lieu of hitting up any afterparties.

"I changed my clothes, but I still had my diamonds on," she recalled. "Millions of dollars of diamonds on in an AA meeting—and I related more to the homeless people in that meeting who struggled with the same struggles that I deal with than the people at the Met Gala—fake and sucking the fashion industry's d—k."

Demi Lovato at the 2024 Met GalaPhoto by Theo Wargo/GA on Getty Images

Perhaps celebrating her newfound confidence after tying the knot with husband Jordan "Jutes" Lutes, the "Confident" singer did return to the Met Gala in 2024 with designer Prabal Gurung, but hasn't been back again since.

Related: Demi Lovato Is ‘Sorry, Not Sorry’ About Her Net Worth in 2026

12. Zayn Malik

Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik at the 2016 Met GalaPhoto by Dimitrios Kambouris on Getty Images

Zayn Malik also had a bad time at the 2016 Met Gala, which he attended on the arm of his then-girlfriend, supermodel and fashion industry fixture Gigi Hadid.

"I did go, but I didn't go there to be like, 'Yo, take me serious,' " the "Pillow Talk" singer told GQ in 2018. "I was taking the piss! I went there as my favorite Mortal Kombat character, Jax." (It does track, given the metal arm!)

"The Met Gala is not necessarily anything that I ever knew about or was about, but my [former] stylist would say to me, 'This is really good for you to do,'" he added, conveniently avoiding accountability. "And no matter how strong you are mentally, you can always be swayed to do certain things."

Though he admitted that Hadid "stole the night" with her look, he noted, "Now, it's not something I would go to. I'd rather be sitting at my house, doing something productive, than dressing up in really expensive clothes and being photographed on a red carpet. To do the self-indulgent 'Look at me, I'm amazing' thing on the red carpet, it's not me."

Related: From Gigi Hadid to Frank Ocean, These 100 Celebrities Actually Have Different Real Names

13. Lena Dunham

Lena Dunham at the 2016 Met GalaPhoto by Rabbani and Solimene Photography on Getty Images

Lena Dunham had a bad time at the 2016 Met Gala because of her own attitude: She projected quite racist tropes onto NFL star Odell Beckham, Jr. for no reason.

"I was sitting next to Odell Beckham Jr., and it was so amazing because it was like he looked at me and he determined I was not the shape of a woman by his standards. He was like: 'That's a marshmallow. That's a child. That's a dog.' It wasn't mean. He just seemed confused," she wrote in her erstwhile Lenny Letter (via the New York Times). "[His] vibe was very much like, 'Do I want to f**k it? Is it wearing a … yep, it's wearing a tuxedo. I'm going to go back to my cell phone.' It was like we were forced to be together, and he literally was scrolling Instagram rather than have to look at a woman in a bow tie. I was like, 'This should be called the Metropolitan Museum of Getting Rejected by Athletes.'"

Beckham Jr. issued a classier response than the remark deserved, and Dunham apologized several times for her comments, which she said were attempts at humor.

"I went ahead and projected these insecurities and made totally narcissistic assumptions about what he was thinking, then presented those assumptions as facts," she wrote on Instagram (via PEOPLE). "I feel terrible about it. Because after listening to lots of valid criticism, I see how unfair it is to ascribe misogynistic thoughts to someone I don't know AT ALL. Like, we have never met, I have no idea the kind of day he's having or what his truth is."

She returned to attend Met Galas in 2017, 2018 and 2019, and is part of the hosting committee for 2026.

Related: Lena Dunham Shares Unexpected Details on Adam Driver’s Role in One of the ‘Best TV Shows of the Century’

14. Amy Schumer

Amy Schumer at the 2016 Met GalaPhoto by James Devaney on Getty Images

OK, there was seriously something in the water at the 2016 Met Gala, because a lot of people hated it that year. Amy Schumer attended and detested the entire experience, calling it a "punishment."

"It's people doing an impression of having a conversation," the Kinda Pregnant star complained in a 2016 Howard Stern interview (via Yahoo!). "I don't like the farce. We're dressed up like a bunch of f**king a**holes. I don't like it. I have no interest in fashion. I don't care."

Amy Schumer at the 2022 Met GalaPhoto by Dimitrios Kambouris on Getty Images

Curiously, she still returned to the Met Gala the following year, as well as in 2022.

Related: Inside Amy Schumer’s Net Worth in 2026 and How She Earned It, From Stand-Up to Movie Stardom

15. Graydon Carter

Graydon Carter at the 2014 Met GalaPhoto by Ray Tamarra on Getty Images

Former Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Graydon Carter went to his last Met Gala in 2014, saying that Wintour's soiree "wasn't [his] thing" anymore.

"I mean, Halloween-type costumes. They might as well come dressed as SpongeBob," he told the New York Times, adding that New York City's Greenwich Village Halloween parade "was classier, a better class of people." "

Carter, who famously hosted the Vanity Fair Oscar parties until his retirement in 2017, explained, "In the old days you'd go and you'd sit beside an architect or a writer, and now it's all influencers and Kardashians. We never let a Kardashian into our parties."

Related: Keeping Up With the Kardashians' Net Worth: How Much Money Kim, Kylie and Their Siblings Really Have

16. Jay Z

JAY Z and Beyoncé at the 2014 Met GalaPhoto by Kevin Mazur on Getty Images

Oh come on, who doesn't remember the elevator incident?

Solange Knowles roughed up JAY Z in an elevator en route to a Met Gala afterparty in 2014, all while Beyoncé looked on, seemingly in silence—and it was all caught on video and released to TMZ. While the Brooklyn native hasn't spoken about what happened there or about his feelings regarding the Met Gala as a whole, actions may speak louder than words.

JAY Z and Beyoncé at the 2015 Met GalaPhoto by Rabbani and Solimene Photography on Getty Images

While we still don't know what it was about or exactly what went down, we do know that Hov only returned to the Met Gala one time since: In 2015, JAY-Z, Queen Bey and Solange all attended in what was very likely a deliberate show of solidarity to quell rumors of marital strife between the Carters.

Meanwhile, the "Single Ladies" singer attended solo in 2016 and the "Cranes in the Sky" crooner came back in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Considering Beyoncé is a co-chair for 2026, the "Public Service Announcement" emcee may make his comeback after more than a decade—because EVERYTHING IS LOVE now.

Related: He’s Got 99 Problems, but His Wealth Ain’t One! Jay-Z’s Massive Net Worth in 2026

17. Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow at the 2013 Met GalaPhoto by Randy Brooke on Getty Images

Gwyneth Paltrow complained about the Met Gala in 2013 shortly after the soiree.

"It sucked. It seems like it's the best thing in the world, you always think, 'Oh my God, it's gonna be so glamorous and amazing, and you're going to see all these people!'" the Oscar winner said in a radio interview (via Us Weekly). "And then you get there, and it's so hot and it's so crowded and everyone's pushing you."

She added of that year's theme, "I think we're all a bit old to dress up punk. I just went as kind of normal."

Paltrow also griped to USA Today, "It was so un-fun. It was boiling. It was too crowded. I did not enjoy it at all ... I'm never going again."

Gwyneth Paltrow at the 2017 Met GalaPhoto by Gilbert Carrasquillo on Getty Images

Still, the Goop founder has since returned to subsequent Met Galas in 2017 and 2019. In a newsletter in 2026, she admitted having a "love/hate relationship" with the Met Gala overall, explaining that she also hates the "costume" themes.

"I'm me—so I'm never going to the Met Ball in like, a hot dog costume or whatever, you know?" she wrote, potentially referring to Katy Perry'shamburger outfit from 2019. "I always have to be myself, first and foremost. Like, I'm not going in a costume; I'm going in a dress."

That's fair, but ... why not just go somewhere else?

Related: Gwyneth Paltrow Reveals She Got Fired From Her First Job at Age 12

18. Tina Fey

Tina Fey and Jeff Richmond at the 2010 Met GalaPhoto by Dimitrios Kambouris on Getty Images

Tina Fey went to the Met Gala in 2010 with her husband Jeff Richmond, and neither of them had fun.

"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," she toldDavid Letterman. "I went and I dragged my husband along with me too, which I'm still in trouble for."

Fey is one of the only stars who've kvetched about the Met Gala who hasn't actually returned. We respect her lack of hypocrisy here.

Related: Jack McBrayer Reveals the ’30 Rock’ Relics at His House–Yes, He Still Has a Page Uniform (Exclusive)

19. Azzedine Alaïa

Azzedine Alaïa and Stephanie SeymourPhoto by Rabbani and Solimene Photography on Getty Images

Late fashion designer Azzedine Alaïa boycotted the Met Gala in 2009 after none of his works were featured in that year's Costume Institute "Model as Muse" exhibit.

He requested supermodels Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista and Stephanie Seymour not to wear the gowns he made for them for the event, and all three opted to skip the Gala entirely in solidarity with Alaïa that year.

Griping that Wintour had "too much power" over the Costume Institute (which her team denied), he noted to the New York Times, "It would have been silly to have seven girls wearing my dresses at the party and not have anything of mine in the exhibit."

Alaïa, who never walked the Met Gala red carpet himself despite dressing numerous models and stars for it, died in 2017.

Related: 3 Foods Anna Wintour Banned From the Met Gala

20. Jennifer Garner

Valentino Garavani and Jennifer Garner at the 2007 Met GalaPhoto by Patrick McMullan on Getty Images

Jennifer Garner looked stunning at the 2007 Met Gala ... and never wanted to go again.

"I went to the Met ball exactly one time," the Alias star told Vogue in 2023. "I found it a little scary, so I haven't been back. I wore that night, this magical red Valentino gown, and I was his date and that was really majestic and special."

Like Fey, Garner has stuck to her guns.

Related: ‘I Tried Jennifer Garner’s Favorite Childhood Pie, and It’s a True Slice of Heaven’

21. Tim Gunn

Tim GunnPhoto by John Lamparski on Getty Images

While Tim Gunn hasn't publicly complained about the Met Gala itself, it's because Wintour banned the Project Runway alum from the annual event entirely.

"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—two big, hulking men—from a fashion show," Gunn recalled in a 2016 interview with Melissa Rivers. "Well, all Hell broke loose. It was insane. So we've had an open war ever since."

Related: Why Does Anna Wintour Always Wear Sunglasses?

This story was originally published by Parade on May 3, 2026, where it first appeared in the Celebs section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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