Was that the worst MET Gala ever? | It's Been A Minute

0:00 Okay, Marjon Shelton, let's get right to it.

0:03 Who were the best dressed at this year's Met Gala?

0:09 I know we're starting off [laughter] a little bit strong.

0:13 I mean, I have to say I was really shocked by Emma Chamberlain in a great way.

0:19 Okay.

0:20 I was really I mean she was one of the first to arrive on the red

0:23 carpet and I I felt like she really nailed it and I was really like

0:27 visually drawn to her um look and then there was like a reveal and and to kind

0:32 of a a shorter length and I was like I okay yes I'm I'm living.

0:36 I think Nicole Kidman looks stunning as well.

0:40 I mean, she was not on theme,

0:42 but we're going to give Nicole Kidman a pass because she's

0:47 because she's Nicole Kid.

0:48 She's Nicole Kidman.

0:50 Exactly.

0:51 I was really impacted by Chase Infinity.

0:54 But I think that she Chase and Emma Chamberlain are also in conversation.

0:59 Their looks are are anatomical and colorful

1:02 and and really um like artistic and and visual.

1:08 So they they kind of speak to one another.

1:10 So I think maybe that's something that my eye

1:12 is really like drawn to um this evening.

1:16 Um so those were some of my faves.

1:20 U and I also loved um Lena Dunham.

1:23 I I shocked shocked but I I really liked her leg.

1:27 I was like okay let's do it.

1:29 Okay, Shelton, we're kind of on the same like wavelift.

1:33 Like, yeah, with Chamberlain, I was like surprised and like that Mlair

1:37 look was stunning and it set the tone for me.

1:40 It was like, oh, this is like the first

1:42 look and it honestly was one of the top looks.

1:45 Um, but to that theme, I really loved like the people who played like the art,

1:49 the fashionist art theme.

1:50 Um, I really love Gracie Abrams in that matchy blazy Chanel.

1:55 It was like homage to like a Gustaf Clint painting.

1:57 I like the girls that lean into like representation of like the actual artwork.

2:01 Like the artist Amy Cherald blew my mind.

2:03 She like wore a look that referenced her own

2:06 artwork by Tom Brown and it was like beautiful.

2:10 It was like a black woman referencing her own work of a black woman.

2:13 It was so great.

2:14 Um I also really enjoyed uh Luke Evans.

2:19 I love that it was like Tom Finland like queer porn like cruising.

2:24 Like I like the people that leaned into that kind of camp of like art.

2:30 I love that Luke Evans is a sneaky fan favorite.

2:36 Absolutely.

2:36 I didn't expect to see that on the carpet and I think

2:39 that a lot of the men um they're not as prone to taking risks,

2:46 so it's really exciting to see when they do and it lands.

2:49 Um, I I'll even give Connor Story's arms

2:54 a little uh applause cuz that was really exciting.

2:58 They were tan, they were freckled.

2:59 I was like anything where I feel like [laughter]

3:02 men were kind of taking out of the box,

3:03 I was drawn to as well.

3:06 Like Jeremy Pope, he like wore like

3:08 this Vivian Westwood like man like man bodest.

3:12 It was like the queerness of it.

3:13 Like those that was like really prevalent to me.

3:16 Yeah.

3:16 Mhm.

3:17 Well, out of the box for me was I'm sorry, Benito Bad Bunny.

3:21 Oh, well, I just I have to say it like I

3:25 performance art.

3:26 I performance art.

3:27 The man took the challenge and he said,

3:29 "Okay, you want to do something different?

3:31 Let's go." Um, love that.

3:33 Okay, so more importantly, or at least more exciting to me,

3:38 who was the worst dressed?

3:43 Oh, you're like, "Oh, no." [laughter] I know.

3:45 Oh, we're really starting strong.

3:47 I'm going to do the cop out answer cuz I'm like, no,

3:50 I think that there was just a lot of like black and I feel like

3:54 that's such a bare minimum for this exciting theme like when we first the carpet

3:58 we want names.

4:00 [laughter] No names.

4:02 Names and photos.

4:05 But that's the thing.

4:06 I don't actually think that there was like one person that was like horrible.

4:09 It was more boring than horrible.

4:12 Exactly.

4:12 like that black is like the default like for art like I want colorful I want

4:16 you know prints like for just a basic black gowns there was like a lot of that.

4:21 Okay, so we're going to get into all of this but before

4:24 we do I think it's time we introduce ourselves.

4:27 So I'm Anna Maria Ser.

4:29 I'm normally the host for NPR music's all Latino podcast,

4:33 hence my bad bunny bias.

4:35 But today I'm filling in for Britney Loose while she's out on vacation.

4:38 Very jealous.

4:39 And I'm here with culture writer Shelton Boyd Griffith and culture critic Marjon

4:44 Carlos to review the best and worst looks from the 2026 Met Gala.

4:50 Okay, so we already did a little bit of a preview

4:52 of the best and worst of the night overall,

4:54 but how would you overall define this Met Gala?

4:58 What were the through lines of the night for you all?

5:02 It was it was pretty tame.

5:05 It was pretty um tempered.

5:09 um restrained and there was just an energy I think

5:14 in the city that you know ran concurrent with the gala

5:19 which was there was a lot of blowback there's

5:21 a lot of push back there's protests um they're actively happening

5:25 and I think that might have deflated a a lot

5:30 of the energy and excitement that normally comes um around

5:33 this event so I think that was kind of I

5:37 was like thrown off by that a little a little bit.

5:39 So, I think everyone was kind of stepping even in their choices

5:43 that they wore that uh that night they were a little uh safe,

5:51 [laughter] I'll say.

5:52 Yeah.

5:52 Like Charlie X.

5:53 Yes.

5:53 I mean, I expected more from her.

5:56 I expected more from DOA.

5:58 Um totally.

5:59 These are my girls and I expect them to make statements

6:03 and they actually went very subdued and and very fem, which is fine.

6:07 And I mean, we love that, but DOA is known to apply

6:12 thousands of crystals to her face or dress up like a cat.

6:15 So, this is your moment, you know, art, camp, costume.

6:19 Let's see it.

6:22 You know, it's almost like, let me show up and make

6:24 sure my name doesn't make it in too many headlines.

6:27 [laughter] That part.

6:30 That part.

6:30 If I were the publicist.

6:33 [laughter] To that point, Marjan, like it did feel really tame.

6:37 Like I think we've got used to like the Met Gallagher in such a spectacle.

6:42 Like we thought of like these fashion

6:43 as like these huge like conceptual like showstoppping moments.

6:48 This was kind of like we're maybe phasing out of that.

6:52 Like it's not so like much about being showstoppping.

6:54 Like there was a lot of great gowns, beautiful gowns.

6:57 Um, as opposed to like the camp year where you know you have

7:00 Billy Porter and like Little Nas X and like people like doing performance art.

7:05 This this felt more tamed for sure.

7:10 So obviously like you mentioned Marjan there was a lot

7:14 of you know exterior context let's say to what was happening tonight.

7:20 It does seem like Jeff and Lauren Sanchez Bezos's

7:22 involvement in the gala did really ultimately tinge everything.

7:26 They were sponsors for the gala.

7:27 So for one, their involvement did lead to actual protests of the event.

7:32 And according to the New York Times, there was a near intrusion.

7:35 The police presence at the carpet increased throughout the evening.

7:38 I will also note there was a pretty significant billionaire presence in general.

7:44 Mark Zuckerberg made his debut at the Met Gala.

7:48 So did one of Google's founders and billionaire Sergy Brin.

7:52 So I guess you could maybe call this a billionaire's gala.

7:56 I mean was is that normal?

7:59 Is that standard?

7:59 Is that business as usual?

8:01 Or does this feel unique to this year?

8:04 I I you know previously had said that Elon Musk

8:08 came you know he he came with Grimes and um

8:11 I remember when I was working at Vogue Instagram was

8:14 the sponsor that sum that that that year that was 2016.

8:18 So Tech's involvement in at the Met has has been here for a minute.

8:24 I think um they've been more like background peripheral

8:30 characters and not centered as the honorary chairs and investing

8:36 openly at least publicly millions of dollars into the event.

8:40 So I think that that leads to um people

8:43 feeling like this might just be a billionaire's gala.

8:47 Um, I saw a little tweet from Vogue and they were like,

8:53 you know, Google or big tech loves fashion and I was like, yikes.

8:57 Um, [laughter] the Google exec um, had his red carpet appearance.

9:03 I just don't think we've seen that type

9:04 of enthusiasm for the industry like that um, and its presence in the past.

9:10 Um, and I think that can come down to this idea

9:16 that the New Yorker was talking about recently about um,

9:19 tastewashing and and having tech involved um,

9:23 in the production of taste and what that does and how that kind of um, you know,

9:30 it kind of cleans up the encroaching um, on ontake of uh,

9:37 AI and how it's it's taking over everything

9:40 and and humanizing it and um because AI and tech,

9:44 if we're going to be completely honest,

9:46 is really works in opposition to craft and in and to um the human touch.

9:53 So, well, it can optimize that at times.

9:56 That's for sure.

9:57 it can I I feel like the replacement of that is

9:59 the biggest risk when um they encroach upon a night

10:04 like this which is about the arts which is about masterpieces

10:07 that are thousands of years old you know from the great

10:11 um artists of our times um so I think

10:15 that that tinged a lot of um the evening and there were

10:19 reports that the tables weren't selling and um and people didn't

10:25 want to be photographed going into Bezos's party on Saturday night.

10:29 So, you know, it's it's it was a real focus.

10:32 Shelton, I'm curious about your thoughts.

10:35 Yeah, like I went to go see the exhibit this morning

10:38 and I felt like there was like

10:40 this justosition of like everything is like handmade,

10:43 these beautiful Grecian statues and these like paw parade

10:46 dresses and like the tactile like quality of hand

10:49 making and then like the encroaching like tech

10:52 AI conversation like tech coming into the fashion space.

10:56 kind of like this tension.

10:57 So, it's like we built these new galleries to like house, you know,

11:02 the achievements of hands and man,

11:04 and then we're funding it with like these tech oligarchs.

11:07 So, it's kind of like this push and pull.

11:10 Totally.

11:11 I think it's a really fascinating point you make, Marjan, too,

11:15 because we're looking at this in the context of of arts and culture

11:19 at large really butting heads or at least in conversation with AI right now.

11:23 I mean this is all happening too as it was

11:26 just announced you know that there going to be further

11:28 restrictions on Oscars entries and and certain awards are kind

11:32 of pushing back on on the involvement of tech right

11:36 and then at the same time we have this scene

11:38 where we have all of these big Hollywood folks

11:40 as well as musicians showing up alongside what felt to me

11:45 as you know this is their debut as cultural figures

11:51 um is really what it was.

11:52 I mean, what's the point of of making them more visible is to make, you know,

11:56 Lauren Sanchez Bezos do the interview on the red carpet alongside every other,

12:01 you know, cultural figure present.

12:03 So, it's a really fascinating um confrontation that we're seeing.

12:09 Yes, it's very fascinating.

12:10 It's very uncomfortable.

12:12 I think

12:13 if we I don't know if anybody here also saw Devil Wars Prada too last week,

12:16 but um [clears throat] spoilers.

12:19 Well,

12:19 they bring that that topic up and and I think it they did a really

12:23 great job of injecting that into the plot and um basically talking about how,

12:30 you know, with publications at a decline, they need economic um salvage.

12:37 You know, they need someone to come in and help

12:39 them and resuscitate budgets or or you know,

12:41 and and help them res to restore to these these uh golden years of publishing.

12:47 So they do turn often to billionaires who have this money and they also want

12:54 to be included in these huge cultural moments

12:57 and what's at risk when um these two

13:00 worlds collide and um I don't want to give it away but you know I

13:07 think they were basically saying that you know

13:10 the print publishing world is here to stay.

13:12 That's a very idealic way of thinking and um I hope that that's true.

13:18 But I do think that there is a real tension there when um you

13:22 know newsrooms are being cut and um

13:26 publications are being brought up by oligarchs.

13:29 So it's it's like what's really going to save this um this medium?

13:35 Um

13:36 right.

13:37 You know.

13:37 Right.

13:38 Totally.

13:38 And to your point, I mean,

13:39 when we're talking about them wanting to participate in art when they are

13:46 arguably potentially creating something that is one

13:49 of the greatest threats to it is a challenging conversation that I don't think

13:55 I saw playing out on the red carpet.

13:57 We did say, you know,

13:59 in we did see Sher in an interview um answer a question where

14:03 she was asked how she felt about Jeff Bezos's involvement and she said,

14:06 "I'm not a fan." Quote, Mhm.

14:08 One thing that I did like notice like

14:10 specifically with Lauren Sanchez Bejo's like outfit that it

14:14 was like Namash's John Sergeant Madame X painting which

14:17 is this painting of this affluent rich white woman.

14:20 So it's like you already you know asserting yourself in the conversation

14:24 that like I am on theme as this rich you know taste maker.

14:29 I don't know.

14:30 I just thought it was so meta like you're you're

14:32 coming dressed as like rich fluent painting and it felt

14:35 kind of like we're not reading the room but then

14:38 also we are like maybe it's like on the nose.

14:41 I don't I don't know but I thought that that was

14:42 like really an intentional choice for her to point at like her.

14:49 Yeah.

14:48 Right.

14:48 Like fully assuming the patron role shamelessly.

14:54 Absolutely.

14:55 I I think it also gave us nothing and it was absolutely inoffensive.

15:00 So, you know, it was a look that, you know,

15:04 had had quote unquote depth and meaning,

15:07 but it visually it was like a dress with a with a little diamond uh sleeve.

15:13 So, you know, it it was [laughter] it was very interesting to see

15:18 that as her choice ultimately um after having

15:22 taken up so much space in the room,

15:24 something very very simple.

15:28 Okay.

15:28 So, we do have to take it back to the fashion for a second

15:31 because I do I I want this is really my opportunity as a non,

15:35 you know, expert to get like a a more elevated sense

15:39 of what was happening because I just saw a lot of colors.

15:42 So, [laughter] um, I do want to talk about the theme because every year

15:46 the Met Gala has a theme associated

15:48 with the Mets Costume Institute's annual exhibition.

15:52 This year's theme was fashion is art,

15:55 which I have to admit I'm a little lost on.

15:59 How would you describe this year's theme yourselves

16:03 and how did you see it show up?

16:06 I think this was a very broad theme.

16:10 um it can go it could have went anywhere and I think that's what

16:12 we kind of saw but to me at the core when I hear fashion

16:15 is art I literally just hear

16:16 that like fashion is interpreted through art performance

16:20 art abstract art paying homage to artists or like popular works of art like

16:25 performance art so I thought that was pretty clear when I heard it

16:29 but seeing on the carpet it wasn't as it was just like a a montage

16:34 of so many different things like I'm going to wear this I want

16:36 to wear this pretty sor dress I want to put put a flower on this.

16:40 I'm going to like say this was inspired by a painting.

16:43 I I don't know.

16:43 It just didn't feel like I keep going back to the camp theme.

16:46 It just felt like this was like so reserved and people didn't know what to do.

16:51 Kind of like with the tailored for you.

16:52 They didn't know what to do and I think people just resorted to just pretty,

16:55 which is always the default.

16:58 I agree.

16:59 I think they kind of gave up in the middle of it.

17:01 And I think there was a lot of like I'll dress up like a painting,

17:05 you know?

17:05 I I will interpret a painting quite literally.

17:08 how, you know, I'll do it.

17:09 I I do think that um Hunter Schaefer

17:12 pulled that off very beautifully in in Prada.

17:16 I thought she was I thought she was very beautiful.

17:18 Um I did not think that Kim K executed that idea well.

17:25 I think that she should have just gone without

17:28 the skirt around her butt because let's just be honest,

17:31 like if this is bodies, bodies bodies, like

17:34 let's just let's just go there, you know?

17:37 Um, and so I think that was another

17:40 theme that people were writing too is being like,

17:43 "Okay, let's throw let's show off the the form.

17:46 Um, the human form.

17:47 So there was a lot of nips and corsets and um,

17:53 and body reveals and bustles and things like that.

17:56 Um, which was kind of fun.

17:58 I think that like Olivia Wild's look was really fun.

18:00 I thought that was like kind of cool to see the bustle out of the dress.

18:04 Um, and it was even Kendall's look was interesting in the sense

18:08 that like they took a white t-shirt from Gap and they

18:11 made her dress and they draped her and you saw

18:14 a little bit of like a a nude um bust peeping out.

18:19 So, I I I liked that.

18:21 Um, but yeah, I think people kind of went a little rogue.

18:26 I don't know if they were There were a lot of hands, you know, there was Yeah.

18:31 Well, that was interesting to me because it almost felt like fashion is art

18:35 got reinterpreted half the time as like body is art and like fashion and body.

18:41 I don't know how you felt about about that because yeah,

18:43 it was the ex exhibition of the human body.

18:47 I think that's like the thing with the theme.

18:48 It's like the exhibition theme and the dress code go hand in hand.

18:52 I think people pull from both simultaneously.

18:55 Um, and we saw that like, you know, referencing art,

18:57 but then like paying homage to like the body in the exhibit

19:00 there was like there were these leggings called BBL leggings.

19:03 They were like actually like leggings stuff and like I just thought about Kim K.

19:07 I'm like I wish that she would have took off

19:09 that skirt and just owned her curves and her body.

19:13 Well, so that's what I, you know, I'm wondering,

19:18 it almost feels to me often times like we avoid conversations about the body

19:21 or or diverse bodies in a setting like the Met Gala or, you know,

19:26 in Hollywood and music.

19:28 Did it feel different this year that people

19:30 were maybe at least talking about it?

19:32 There's been a huge surge in Ozmpic usage at the same time.

19:35 So, we're against the backdrop of that.

19:37 I mean, did did we see a little bit of that conversation on the carpet?

19:45 Did we see any conversation?

19:46 I don't Shelton, did you see anything that felt

19:50 I won't say on the carpet, but I will say an exhibit.

19:54 It is that like I think that was the disconnect.

19:59 Okay.

19:59 So, Shelton, this might be a good time

20:00 to mention that you actually went and saw the exhibition.

20:04 What is it about?

20:06 So, the exhibition theme is costume art.

20:09 Um, and it is a conversation on fashion and the body

20:14 and how fashion the body is interpreted through artwork.

20:17 So, it talks about like the nude body.

20:18 So, think about like Grecian, you know,

20:20 sculptures and like how like fabric weaves on them.

20:23 It talks about the disabled body.

20:24 It talks about the pregnant body, the plus-siz body.

20:27 Um, yeah, it's a conversation on bodies and how it intertwines

20:30 like fashion and art because we're always fashioned in art with clothes.

20:34 And to be honest, it it tackled so many conversations

20:39 that I still don't think we're tackling like full on.

20:41 It was interesting to see like fat bodies and like,

20:45 you know, disabled bodies and like,

20:47 you know, mannequins that resembled actual plus-sized women

20:51 and not just like caricatures of big bodies.

20:53 Um, they were like trans bodies and trans models and interpretations

20:57 on like motherhood and like what does that look like?

20:59 It was really a class like lesson in like what fashion really needs to do.

21:05 So I also kind of felt like that was really funny

21:07 to like see the red carpet and I didn't really see

21:09 those conversations taking place that I saw like it's a really profound

21:12 exhibit like it's really spectacular in the way that it tackles like

21:16 the new body and like the whole section around disabled body

21:18 and like models in wheelchairs and you know dwarfism and I really wish

21:23 that we would have had more examples of that in our carpet

21:25 of people actually like even talking about that on the red carpet.

21:28 Do either of you feel like you saw

21:30 anything on the carpet that was representative of that?

21:37 Let me look at my notes.

21:39 [laughter] Okay.

21:42 So, what are the looks that people are going

21:45 to be talking about tomorrow that we haven't talked about yet?

21:51 [sighs] I think unfortunately people are going to be talking about Heidi Clume.

21:54 Um, Halloween.

21:57 Halloween.

21:58 I was like, I don't like this.

22:00 I don't need this.

22:01 Let's say that for your party in October.

22:04 Um I I I I I really did not like that at all.

22:09 Um Okay.

22:10 So, I'm hearing an answer to worst dressed from the beginning.

22:13 [laughter] We didn't want to name names, but we had names.

22:16 That was a costume.

22:17 That was not a dress.

22:20 It was not a dress.

22:21 It was It was a gimmick.

22:23 Um and that's not what we came to see.

22:26 Um, I think obviously we'll be talking about Beyonce and Blue,

22:31 um, and like the royal family and and their debut.

22:35 Um, Katie Perry and Stella McCartney with the mirror face,

22:40 which I think actually was done very well.

22:42 Um, and I I I I'm not always a huge fan of her um,

22:48 on the red carpet, but I think she did it very well.

22:52 Um, and I [laughter] I will say this.

22:55 I loved Anderson Pack for wearing Tory Birch flats.

22:59 I thought that was that was really smart.

23:03 That was very very smart and and very meta.

23:06 Um, but and I think obviously people are

23:10 going to be talking about Kim K as well.

23:15 I agree.

23:16 Bet Kim K for sure.

23:18 I think Madonna just because she's in the discourse right now around her music

23:22 um and that headpiece that she had on.

23:24 Um it's kind of hard to decipher like iconic looks.

23:30 Like I think like with some outlets you instantly walk away knowing

23:33 like this is going to this is going to be in the zeitgeist.

23:36 This is going to be in the culture zist.

23:37 This year I honestly for the first time didn't really feel that.

23:40 There were not a lot of nice looks but I don't

23:42 know like what's going to be like talked about going forward.

23:46 Yeah.

23:46 Like one person who we always are talking about

23:49 post Meal is Rihanna and she actually just showed

23:52 up late like she always does and she was

23:54 wearing like Margella and I think also her showing

23:56 up late it's going to like add to like

23:58 the continuation of people waking up and talking about

24:00 it tomorrow cuz it's it's late people going

24:03 to sleep and party but tomorrow they're probably Rihanna's there.

24:06 She came.

24:08 Exactly.

24:09 It's like waiting for the election results to come in.

24:13 [laughter] We all just we all just wait

24:17 with baited breath [laughter] for mother to arrive.

24:21 And she's the only person that's allowed to come late.

24:23 So, she did.

24:24 Um and I love the the beauty.

24:28 I love uh the the the hair and um the jewelry.

24:32 I need to get into the look a bit more.

24:34 It's deeply embroidered and and um it's a different like silhouette

24:38 for her and a different color palette than I've seen her before.

24:41 before.

24:41 So, it's always exciting to see how she reinterprets that.

24:46 So, I mean, how does this Met Gala fit into the larger Met Gala history?

24:54 I think, like I said earlier, I think we're just at a place now where like

24:58 because the Met Gala has become such a cultural force, everyone is covering.

25:01 Like I was on Twitter and like Pop Crave was talking about it.

25:04 It's literally everywhere.

25:07 the spectacle is weaning and with that I think fans are looking

25:11 to expect these grand looks and when they don't deliver they just kind

25:14 of get lost to like the internet and like we never were talking

25:18 about these looks again which is so unfortunate because they spend so many

25:20 hours making these gowns and these couture gowns that kind of just

25:24 like fall to the wayside but because we've had so many like Rihanna's

25:27 and Zenaas and like Beyonce's like these iconic like looks it's kind

25:32 of hard nowadays to even present a look at the meal to be honest.

25:37 I agree.

25:38 I I totally agree.

25:39 I think um there's a lot of risk in um not getting it right.

25:44 So, people definitely play it safe, more safe than they have in the past.

25:48 Um and I do think that like it may contract a little bit next year.

25:55 I think that the magazine and the museum are going to take Vogue.

26:00 I mean, and the and the and the Met are

26:02 probably going to take a lot of um the disscent

26:06 around it into effect when they're thinking about the next

26:11 year's um committee and next year's theme and the guest list.

26:16 I I really do.

26:17 I think they're going to take this into consideration um because

26:20 the blowback has been detrimental and at the end of the day it

26:23 is a fundraising effort and um like Shelton reminded us it is

26:28 about an a beautiful exhibit and um so that that can get lost.

26:34 Um, and I So I I think that next year we'll

26:38 probably see something maybe back to form um and less tech bros.

26:48 [laughter] Oh my god, guys.

26:50 Thank you so much for joining me.

26:52 This is like a lot of helpful context for me.

26:55 I love picking your brains about this, so I appreciate it.

27:00 Thank you.

27:00 This was amazing.

27:01 Thank you for having us.

27:06 That was culture critic Marjan Carlos and culture writer Shelton Boyd Griffith.

27:11 I'm Anameia Seer sitting in for Britney Loose.

27:14 You can find me over on NPR Music's Alt Latino podcast.

27:17 And a reminder that you should run Don't Walk.

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27:28 Thanks for listening and talk soon.