Zendaya and Meryl Streep are reportedly among the A-listers skipping this year's Met Gala, scheduled for Monday, May 4. The news comes amid calls for celebrities to boycott the event over the involvement of Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez. The couple, who married last year in a lavish Venice ceremony, have been named lead donors and honorary co-chairs of this year's gala.
Zendaya's Absence
Elle reported Friday that Zendaya will miss the New York City ceremony to take a break from the spotlight after completing two near-simultaneous press tours for The Drama and Euphoria season three. Zendaya has become a Met Gala fixture, attending seven times since her 2015 debut, co-chairing in 2024, and stealing the show last year in an all-white Louis Vuitton suit.
Streep's Decision
The Daily Mail reported this week that Meryl Streep was rumored to have turned down a co-chair role due to Bezos and Sánchez's involvement. Streep currently plays Miranda Priestly—a character inspired by longtime Met Gala chair and Vogue editor Anna Wintour—in The Devil Wears Prada 2 and appears on the May 2026 Vogue cover. Her representative told The Independent: “Meryl has been invited to the Met Gala for many years but has never attended. While she appreciates Vogue, Anna, and her incredible imagination and stamina, it has never quite been her scene.” However, Streep's daughters, Grace and Mamie Gummer, are attending, as are her Devil Wears Prada 2 co-stars Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci, according to Page Six Hollywood sources.
Sponsorship Controversy
The sponsorship by Bezos—who recently spent millions on a movie by First Lady Melania Trump via his Amazon MGM film studios—sparked backlash from critics accusing him of buying influence at the prestigious fashion ball. At various locations near the Metropolitan Museum in New York City, posters have appeared with slogans such as “Bezos Met Gala: Brought to you by the firm that powers ICE” and “Boycott the Bezos Met Gala.” The flyer campaign was organized by the British political activist group Everyone Hates Elon, which describes itself as anti-billionaire.
Wintour's Defense
Anna Wintour attempted to quell the backlash, telling CNN in November: “I think Lauren is going to be a wonderful asset to the museum and to the event. I'm very grateful for her incredible generosity, and she's a great lover of costume and obviously of fashion, so we're thrilled she's part of the night.” The couple's sponsorship breaks precedent by having a legacy fashion house as the primary sponsor.
Event Details
The dress code for the May 4 event is “Costume Art,” exploring the “centrality of the dressed body” through depictions and interpretations of the human form in the Met's collection. The dress code encourages guests to use their bodies as a blank canvas. “What connects every curatorial department and what connects every single gallery in the museum is fashion, or the dressed body,” said Andrew Bolton, curator in charge of the Costume Institute. This year's co-chairs are Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, and Venus Williams. Members of the Gala Host Committee—co-chaired by Anthony Vaccarello and Zoë Kravitz—include Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, Misty Copeland, Lena Dunham, Sam Smith, and Teyana Taylor, among others.
