Has the Met Gala lost its A-list status as the likes of Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Blake Lively do not attend?

Don’t get me wrong, I love the Met Gala; the glamour, the outrageous outfits and the fact that a cockroach can steal the headlines. However, there did seem to be something missing this year… 

Or should I say A-list stars in particular who were missing such as Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Blake Lively and Harry Styles (if you want actual names!).

There are of course plenty of legitimate reasons why these stars may have decided to give the 2023 Met Gala a miss. Harry Styles is currently on tour and is due to perform in Denmark this Saturday and Lady Gaga has also been incredibly busy thanks to filming the Joker sequel.

However, what about Blake Lively?

I know several people who once they heard Blake Lively wasn’t going said they are not going to watch the Met Gala, and no, I am not exaggerating! The Hollywood actress did however have a legitimate excuse and shared a photograph of herself pumping breast milk in a bathroom. Let us not forget that the 35 year old star has only recently given birth to her and Ryan Reynolds’ fourth child.

However, Blake did make an appearance at the recent reopening of Tiffany & Co's NYC Flagship Store, so perhaps that is a little telling?

And as for Beyonce?

Well believe it or not, Beyonce hasn’t actually been to the Met Gala since 2016 and is also pretty busy at present thanks to her tour. She is set to play Stockholm on May 10 when her Renaissance World Tour kicks off. 

So, if all these stars have a legitimate excuse for not attending the Met Gala 2023, surely that doesn’t devalue the evening as a whole?

Well, being brutally honest (which I am often are), I am afraid it does….

If two people are telling me that the Met Gala is nothing without Blake Lively, imagine what the rest of the world is saying when it comes to the likes of Lady Gaga, Harry Styles and Beyonce. 

And yes, I know the likes of Rihanna and Kim Kardashian were there (Kim of course attracted attention in custom Schiaparelli, with reportedly 50,000 pearls adorned onto her body), but I still felt a little underwhelmed. 

It might have had something to do with the colour of gowns most celebrities seemed to opt to wear, black and white proving obviously popular as the dress code was Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty (black and white are Chanel’s signature colours). 

However, I just felt like a frisson of excitement that I normally feel as I watch the Met Gala unfold, just simply wasn’t there. I wanted to see a new couple make their appearance on the red carpet. Yes, I know there was Anna Wintour and Bill Nighy, but that wasn’t enough for me…

Perhaps my expectations were too high, but I was desperate to see Kendall Jenner on the arm of Bad Bunny, but unfortunately that didn’t materialise. 

Oh well, roll on Met Gala 2024, hopefully you can turn around before it is too late…