The Met Gala is the biggest night in the Hollywood calendar and as you’d expect, the event has played host to a number of controversial celebrity moments throughout the years
A number of controversial celeb moments have happened at the Met Gala.
From furious donors slamming A-listers for smoking near priceless pieces of art to a naked gatecrasher trapped in a plastic box, from a political message scrawled on a red carpet outfit to the most iconic nude illusion dress in history, you could say that the night can get pretty wild.
The 2025 event will take place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as usual and a huge list of famous faces will be attending, so hang tight for this year’s biggest scandal.
To prepare for the events ahead, Daily Star has compiled a list of the Met Gala’s biggest scandals from past events – scroll on to discover the most memorable Met moments ever.
Smoking
Back in the 2010s, a Met Gala trend began to emerge as pictures of celebrities smoking in the bathrooms began to circulate the internet.
One famous snap shows 50 Shades of Grey star Dakota Johnson lighting up a cigarette, while Marc Jacobs, Char DeFrancesco and Frances Bean Cobain all posed for a group selfie with cigarettes in their mouths.
The rebellious snaps caused a lot of controversy for the A-listers as many people pointed out that smoking has been banned in New York’s restaurants, bars and commercial establishments since 2003.
Others noted that they were just feet away from many priceless art pieces and were branded “disrespectful”.
A source told Page Six: “As a donor to the Met, I was so insulted to see all these celebrities smoking and taking selfies of themselves in the bathroom.”
“Mostly it it disrespectful to the art collection, which needs to be kept 100% smoke-free. I would honestly like to see these people fined by the city.”
Naked Man In Box
In 2017, two men in suits pulled up to the Met Gala and took a clear plastic box into the venue. Inside was Russian performance artist Fyodor Pavlov-Andreevich without any clothes on.
The men dropped the box on the red carpet and security were forced to think on their feet, quickly grabbing a large white sheet and covering the box.
It was taken off the red carpet and reportedly firefighters used a saw to cut the box open.
Solange vs. Jay-Z
Footage of Solange allegedly punching and kicking her sister Beyonce’s husband Jay-Z in an elevator emerged following the Met Gala in 2014.
A security guard allegedly restrained her during the incident, which took place at The Standard High Line. The reason behind the alleged outburst has never been confirmed but some have blamed “family tensions”.
Trendsetter
A sheer, flesh-coloured outfit wouldn’t get so much as a double take nowadays, but fashion-forward trend-setter Cher left jaws on the floor when she showed up to the 1974 Met Gala wearing a diamond encrusted see-through dress, complete with feather trim and long pointed nails.
The Believe songstress left very little to the imagination and has been credited as one of the first people to bring the “illusion dress” into the mainstream.
Politcal Message
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is also known as AOC, turned up to the 2021 Met Gala wearing a giant political message across her back.
“TAX THE RICH” was written in bright red letters on the reverse of her gown, which was an off-the-shoulder mermaid style with a white tulle skirt to match.
She paired her Brother Vellies dress with a matching slogan bag.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
