Gwyneth Paltrow, Amy Schumer and Demi Lovato are among the stars who've publicly spoken out against the famed fashion event.
The 2019 Met Gala is upon us.
The famed event takes place the first Monday in May to raise money for the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. But for those who haven't heard from Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour about the invite-only event, it's a night to see the best and brightest of Hollywood giving us the highest of high fashion.
Each year, stars flock to the Met steps wearing a mix of stunning, shocking and wacky designs in an attempt to pay tribute to the year's theme. (This year, the theme is "Camp: Notes on Fashion.") But that's not to say every celeb who's hit the red carpet has had a ball.
Amy Schumer
In an August 2016 interview with Howard Stern on his SiriusXM radio show, Amy Schumer said that attending the event that year felt like a punishment. "It's people doing an impression of having a conversation. … I don’t like the farce," she said. "We're dressed up like a bunch of f**king a**holes."
"I have no interest in fashion. I don't care. I left earlier than I should have been allowed. …I got to meet Beyoncé and she was like, 'Is this your first Met Gala?' And I was like, 'It's my last!'"
It wasn't Schumer's last, however, as she attended the event again the next year.
Demi Lovato
While speaking with Billboard in 2018, Lovato called her first Met Gala in 2016 a "terrible experience" thanks to one other celeb in particular. "This one celebrity was a complete b**ch and was miserable to be around. It was very cliquey," she dished.
"I remember being so uncomfortable that I wanted to drink," continued the singer, who was sober at the time. She told the outlet that she left the event and went straight to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.
"I changed my clothes, but I still had my diamonds on -- millions of dollars of diamonds on in an AA meeting," she revealed. "And I related more to the homeless people in that meeting who struggled with the same struggles that I deal with than the people at the Met Gala -- fake and sucking the fashion industry's d**k."
The former Disney star also posted on Instagram to express her dislike for the event shortly after attending. "This picture pretty much summed up my first and probably last met," she captioned a photo of herself with Nicki Minaj and designer Jeremy Scott. "#cool #sof**kingawkward #notforme #sweatpants #forensicfiles #whatsgood."
Tim Gunn
Gunn revealed on Fashion Police that he was "disinvited" from the event after speaking out against Wintour. "I was asked what is the most unforgettable thing I've ever seen in fashion," he explained "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."
After that comment, "All hell broke loose," according to Gunn. "It was insane. So we've had an open war ever since."
Tina Fey
The Saturday Night Live alumna attended the Met Gala in 2010 but hasn't been back since. In a 2015 interview with former Late Show host David Letterman, Fey called the event a "jerk parade," and suggested Letterman "drink contact-lens fluid" in order to avoid attending.
"If you had a million arms and all the people you would punch in the whole world, they're all there," she said.
"It is so unbelievable. Clearly, I'll never go again," Fey continued. "But you go, and it's this beautiful space and it's just every jerk from every walk of life is there wearing, like, some stupid thing."
Zayn Malik
After attending the 2016 Met Gala with girlfriend Gigi Hadid, Malik decided it wasn't for him. In a 2018 interview with GQ, the former One Direction singer said he never "knew about" the event until he attended it, and was encouraged to go by his former stylist.
"Now, it's not something I would go to," he said. "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....To do the self-indulgent Look at me, I'm amazing thing on the red carpet, it's not me."
Lena Dunham
Dunham lamented the miserable time she had at the 2016 Met Gala while speaking with Schumer in a 2016 issue of the Girls star's Lenny Letter newsletter.
"You and I were literally sitting across from each other at the Met Ball, and it was like a crazy countdown to when we could escape. You were like, 'We're honored to be here. We're honored to be here,'" Dunham, 30, told Schumer, 36, in the published conversation.
"I attempted to grind my ass on Michael B. Jordan for an additional 20 minutes and then left right after you," said Dunham before getting herself in hot water over her comments about being seated next to Odell Beckham Jr. She later apologized for her remarks against him, but said she felt "insecure" at the event. She went back to the Met Gala in 2017 and 2018.
Gwyneth Paltrow
Another star who returned to the Met Gala after openly bashing it is Paltrow, who attended the event in Calvin Klein in 2017, four years after telling USA Today that it was "so un-fun. It was boiling. It was too crowded. I did not enjoy it at all."
She opened up more about the ball in an interview with Australian radio show hosts Kyle and Jackie O. "It sucked," she declared. "It seems like it's the best thing in the world, you always think, 'Oh my god, it's going to be so glamorous and amazing and you're going to see all of these people' and then you get there and it's so hot and it's so crowded and everyone's pushing you.'"
See more on the Met Gala in the video below.
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