Met Gala 2025: Celebrities who have been banned or have stepped back from the spotlight

Met Gala 2025: The Met Gala, fashion’s most exclusive and extravagant annual event, returns to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday, May 5, 2025. Officially known as the Costume Institute Benefit, the gala serves as a fundraising event for the museum's Costume Institute and marks the grand opening of its annual fashion exhibit.

Since its transformation under Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour in the 1990s, the Met Gala has become a cultural juggernaut blending fashion, art, and celebrity spectacle.

This year’s exhibition, themed “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” is a tribute to the artistry and elegance of Black dandyism and its global cultural roots. According to W Magazine, the show draws inspiration from scholar Monica L. Miller’s book ‘Slaves to Fashion’ and showcases how Black communities have used fashion as a form of self-expression and empowerment across history.

This year, the gala boasts an all-male co-chair lineup, featuring musician and Louis Vuitton creative director Pharrell Williams, actor Colman Domingo, Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton, rapper A$AP Rocky, and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. Basketball icon LeBron James joins the evening as the honorary chair.

Fashion’s cold shoulder: Who has been cut from the coveted Met List?

For all its celebration of artistry and inclusion, the Met Gala remains tightly curated, and not without controversy. Some celebrities have been left off the guest list permanently or opted out of future events after speaking out about the experience.

According to Parade, US President Donald Trump is the only person Anna Wintour has publicly confirmed is banned from the event. He attended several times with his wife, Melania, but was reportedly disinvited after assuming office in 2016.

Fashion mentor Tim Gunn has also claimed to be blacklisted after recounting a moment when Wintour was carried down a staircase by bodyguards—an anecdote she reportedly did not take lightly. According to E! News, Gunn called their ensuing feud “an open war.”

Zayn Malik, who made his sole appearance at the 2016 Met Gala alongside then-girlfriend Gigi Hadid, later expressed a strong disinterest in returning. He described the event as self-indulgent and said he would rather stay home doing something productive than walk a red carpet in expensive clothes.

Lili Reinhart, star of Riverdale, is another name likely scratched off the list after she made a comment about Kim Kardashian’s weight loss at the 2022 affair. Apparently, for the 2022 Met Gala, which centred on the theme “In America: An Anthology of Fashion,” Kim Kardashian appeared in Marilyn Monroe’s legendary “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” dress. To fit into the historic gown, she revealed that she followed an intense diet regimen for several weeks beforehand.

According to the Independent Reinhart wrote on Instagram at the time, “To openly admit to starving yourself for the sake of the Met Gala. 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. Please stop supporting these stupid, harmful celebrities whose entire image revolves around their bodies…”

Actress and comedian Tina Fey has also distanced herself from the Met Gala, calling it a “jerk parade” during a past interview. As noted by Cosmopolitan, she expressed regret for attending the event and dragging her husband along, stating she’d never return.

Several other stars—such as Demi Lovato, Amy Schumer, Rachel Zoe, and Gwyneth Paltrow—have voiced discontent with the gala in the past. While some were rumored to be banned, they have since made a return, suggesting that reconciliation is possible for some high-profile critics.

As the 2025 Met Gala unfolds with new themes and fresh faces, the exclusive nature of its guest list remains a talking point—especially when absence speaks as loudly as presence on the Met steps.