New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani will skip the fundraising benefit for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, having announced his decision not to attend the Met Gala 2026 earlier.
While Anna Wintour has publicly confirmed banning only one individual from the Met Gala indefinitely, there are a lot of celebrities rumored to be banned due to their comments about the event.
Additionally, some have explicitly stated their disinterest in attending.
1. Donald Trump
Anna Wintour confirmed that Donald Trump is banned, identifying him as the celebrity she would never invite to the Met Gala when questioned by James Corden in 2017.
Despite having attended multiple times in the past, Trump has not appeared at the annual gala since 2012.
2. Zayn Malik
Zayn Malik is another celebrity choosing to not attend this year’s Met Gala. He attended the 2016 event with his then-girlfriend Gigi Hadid but has expressed a lack of desire to repeat the experience.
“Now it’s not something I would go to,” he stated in a 2018 interview with GQ. “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.”
3. Lili Reinhart
The Riverdale actor, Lili Reinhart, attended the Met Gala in 2022 but has candidly expressed doubts about receiving another invitation after she criticised Kim Kardashian’s rapid weight loss to fit into the iconic dress worn by Marilyn Monroe to serenade John F. Kennedy on his 45th birthday.
4. Nicki Minaj
In February, Rob Shuter from Naughty But Nice reported that Nicki Minaj would likely be “shut out” of the 2026 Met Gala following a series of politically charged outbursts.
An insider revealed, “Nicki’s invitations didn’t just decrease, they disappeared entirely. Hollywood stopped returning her calls.
5. Tim Gunn
American author, Tim Gunn, has also been banned from the Met Gala 2026. While discussing the event in 2016, he said, “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.’ All hell broke loose. It was insane. We’ve had an open war ever since.”
The theme for the 2026 Met Gala is “Costume Art,” inspired by “the centrality of the dressed body in the museum’s extensive collection,” as stated by curator Andrew Bolton.
The event is exclusive to invitees, which implies that if your name is not on the guest list, entry will not be permitted.
A complete list of hundreds of possible guests has been reportedly gathered, with Anna Wintour, Condé Nast’s global chief content officer and artistic director, carefully narrowing it down to nearly 400 participants.
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