The Met Gala is supposed to be the most glamorous night in fashion. Every first Monday in May, the Metropolitan Museum of Art fills with A-list celebrities dressed in jaw-dropping couture, and millions watch from home wishing they could be there. But what if the reality behind those red carpet photos isn’t nearly as fabulous as it looks?
Over the years, a surprising number of celebrities have pulled back the curtain on the Met Gala, and their complaints are strikingly similar. Stifling heat, cliquey social dynamics, crippling anxiety, limited drinks, and an overwhelming sense of loneliness in a room full of the world’s most famous people. Here’s what they had to say.
Gwyneth Paltrow Called The Met Gala “So Un-Fun”
Gwyneth Paltrow didn’t hold back after attending the 2013 Met Gala, themed “Punk: Chaos to Couture.” In an interview with USA Today, she was blunt: “I’m never going again. It was so un-fun. It was boiling. It was too crowded. I did not enjoy it at all.” She went even further on Australia’s Kyle and Jackie O Show, saying the event “sucked” and describing the experience of being pushed around in a sweltering, overcrowded room.
The punk theme itself didn’t sit well with her either. Paltrow questioned whether grown adults should really be dressing punk, and the whole evening clearly left a sour taste. Despite her emphatic “never again” declaration, she returned in 2017 and again in 2019. In a Goop blog post in March 2026, the Marty Supreme star acknowledged the contradiction, writing about her “love-hate relationship with the Met Ball that’s well documented.” She also made it clear she’d never show up in a costume, seemingly taking a dig at Katy Perry’s infamous 2019 hamburger outfit. Paltrow hasn’t attended since 2019, though her history with the event stretches all the way back to 1995.
SZA Left The Met Gala Barefoot
SZA’s 2022 Met Gala experience became one of the most raw and honest accounts of celebrity anxiety at a major event. She arrived wearing a magenta Vivienne Westwood gown, but the evening quickly spiralled. Speaking to Finish Line for its Community Voices mental health series, she opened up about the emotional toll: “I hated my outfit. 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.'”
The anxiety became so intense that she fled through the back exit as soon as Lenny Kravitz took the stage. What happened next is almost cinematic. SZA walked three city blocks barefoot through Manhattan to hail a yellow cab back to her hotel, describing herself as “a little dirty Cinderella running away with my shoes.” She first attended the gala in 2018, and after the rough 2022 outing, she skipped the main red carpet in 2024, attending only the after-party. In 2025, she was absent entirely, performing on Kendrick Lamar’s Grand National Tour instead.
Regé-Jean Page Called It “Lonely”
Bridgerton star Regé-Jean Page offered perhaps the most poetic take on the Met Gala’s emotional reality. In an Esquire UK interview published in March 2026, he described his experiences attending in 2022 and 2025 with striking honesty: “What no one tells you about the Met Gala is that everyone, almost everyone, is on their own. There’s the most glamorous room, the most exclusive echelon of society, all utterly lost and alone and searching for connection.”
Even being impeccably dressed didn’t help. Page added that despite wearing the finest outfits of your life, “you’re also in a very vulnerable place, ready to lean on your co-star immediately.” On the bright side, the 2025 gala is where he met his You, Me & Tuscany co-star Halle Bailey, so at least one good thing came from the loneliness.
Billie Eilish Said Celebs Are “Nobodies”
As a co-chair of the 2021 Met Gala at just 19 years old, Billie Eilish had a front-row seat to the entire spectacle. What she took away from it wasn’t glamour or excitement, but a surprisingly grounding observation about fame. On The Howard Stern Show in December 2021, she said: “The main thing that night made me think or feel was how famous people are just literally nobodies. Just randos.”
She compared the room to a school cafeteria where everyone’s “embarrassed and insecure about what they’re doing and saying.” It’s worth noting that Eilish wasn’t entirely negative. She also called the event “amazing” and praised the no-phones policy for keeping celebrities from sticking cameras in each other’s faces. She returned in 2022 and 2023 before missing 2024 and 2025 due to album prep and a European tour. In May 2025, she even had to debunk AI-generated images of herself at the gala, posting on Instagram Stories that the photos people were criticising weren’t even real.
Demi Lovato Tagged The Met Gala “#NotForMe”
Demi Lovato’s 2016 Met Gala experience was genuinely harrowing. She attended the “Manus x Machina” gala and almost immediately knew it was a mistake. That night, she posted a photo with Nicki Minaj and Jeremy Scott on Instagram, captioning it with the hashtag #notforme.
The full story came out in a 2018 Billboard cover story, and it was far worse than an awkward photo. “This one celebrity was a complete bitch and was miserable to be around,” she said. “It was very cliquey. I remember being so uncomfortable that I wanted to drink.” Feeling her sobriety threatened, Lovato left the event and went to a 10 p.m. AA meeting. “I changed my clothes, but I still had my diamonds on, millions of dollars of diamonds on in an AA meeting,” she recalled. She said she related more to the people in that meeting than anyone at the gala.
After an eight-year absence, Lovato returned to the Met Gala in 2024 wearing a silver Prabal Gurung gown. Speaking to E! News, she described feeling “amazing” and having gone through “a myriad of emotions” on her drive over. It was a full-circle moment.
Lizzo’s Unfiltered Met Gala Grievances
Lizzo attended the 2022 Met Gala wearing an oversized Thom Browne coat and performed a flute solo on the red carpet, but the evening was far from enjoyable. In an Instagram Live broadcast, the four-time Grammy winner laid out her frustrations without any filter: “There’s a long f–king line. You’ve gotta wait. I was sweating in a big-ass coat, my feet were hurting.”
Things didn’t improve once she got inside. “They don’t have no chairs, no cocktails,” she said. “I was like, ‘Bitch? Can we get some chairs or some drinks or some hors d’oeuvres?'” She was particularly annoyed by the stingy drink service, describing how a server offered only red or white wine when all she wanted was tequila after hours in a corset. Her flute performance was also cut short by photographers who heckled her, saying she was putting them to sleep. Despite all of this, Lizzo returned for the 2025 gala and was noticeably more positive, describing cocktail hour, a men’s gospel choir, and assigned seating designed to encourage new conversations. Maybe the gala took some of the feedback on board.
Jennifer Garner Found It “A Little Scary”
Jennifer Garner attended the Met Gala exactly once, in 2007, wearing a red Valentino gown as the designer’s personal guest. Nearly two decades later, she still hasn’t been back. In a December 2023 Vogue Beauty Secrets video, she explained simply: “I went to the Met Ball exactly one time. I found it a little scary, so I haven’t been back.”
The logistical realities of her gown also left an impression. In an earlier Instagram post, Garner wrote: “You will never appreciate using the bathroom alone until you’ve been sewn into a dress.” As of 2026, it’s been 19 years since her one and only appearance. Sometimes once is enough.
Tina Fey Had Zero Kind Words For The Met Gala
Tina Fey attended the Met Gala once, in 2010, and waited five years to deliver what’s arguably the greatest celebrity roast the event has ever received. On the Late Show with David Letterman in 2015, she said: “It is such a jerk parade. Every jerk from every walk of life is there wearing some stupid thing.”
She escalated further, saying that if you had a million arms, “all the people you would want to punch in the whole world, they’re all there.” She even described accidentally walking through an unnamed attendee’s “fart cloud.” Fey has never returned, but her takedown has stayed alive. The Letterman show’s own social media accounts reposted the famous “jerk parade” clip on the night of the 2025 gala, keeping her critique in permanent rotation.
Why Do Celebrities Keep Going Back?
What’s fascinating about these complaints is how consistent they are. The heat, the overcrowding, the social anxiety, the cliquey atmosphere, the logistical nightmares of elaborate gowns and limited refreshments. These aren’t one-off bad experiences. They’re recurring themes that span nearly two decades of celebrity accounts.
And yet, most of these critics eventually went back. Paltrow, Eilish, Lovato, Lizzo, and SZA all returned despite their complaints. Only Fey, Garner, and a handful of others have stayed away for good. The Met Gala’s gravitational pull, from career benefits and cultural prestige to maintaining a relationship with Anna Wintour, seems to outweigh even the most visceral grievances. With the 2026 Met Gala approaching on May 4, co-chaired by Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, and Venus Williams, the annual cycle of anticipation, misery, and reluctant return isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
