Met Gala Monday, the first Monday in May, marks fashion’s biggest night as celebs descend on the Metropolitan Museum of Art to support the Costume Institute at its annual charity gala.

The dress code for the event was “Fashion is Art.”

The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibit is titled “Costume Art,” which “will consider depictions of the dressed body from across the Met’s curatorial departments, pairing garments with art objects spanning some 5,000 years,” according to Vogue.

Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams and Anna Wintour were co-chairs of the event. This is Wintour’s first gala since stepping down as Vogue’s editor-in-chief.

There was also a huge host committee, including Zoë Kravitz, Angela Bassett, Doja Cat, Gwendoline Christie, Misty Copeland, Lena Dunham, Amy Sherald, Teyana Taylor, Chase Sui Wonders and more.

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos were the lead sponsors and honorary chairs of the gala.

“It’s about everybody, and it’s about every body,” Wintour said ahead of the event, USA Today reported. “Nude bodies and classical bodies, corpulent bodies, and disabled bodies and the way both fashion and art can shape our imaginations.”

HuffPost covered the event live. Take a look at the most talked about looks and viral moments of the night.

The controversy around labor practices at Amazon was among the hot topics on the New York City streets as Bezos and his wife, model Lauren Sánchez Bezos, chopped it up with the big-name invitees who were obscured by the walls of the Met, the tent around the red carpet and the layers of police and security surrounding this year's gala.

It was almost inevitable that the gala — the site of several protests in recent years — would face backlash this time around after the couple was announced as lead sponsors and later crowned honorary chairs for the Costume Institute’s premier fundraising fête.

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Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny turned heads on the Met Gala red carpet Monday night as the singer sported an unusual getup that seemed to prove some things do get better with age.

Bad Bunny (or Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio) showed up to the event rocking a cane and an all-black tuxedo, designed in collaboration with Zara, and his hair and goatee visibly gray, giving the world a preview of what the musician will look like in his golden years.

Bad Bunny also sported prosthetics designed by makeup artist Mike Marino to aid in the artificial aging process. Marino is the artist behind many of supermodel Heidi Klum’s fantastic Halloween costumes over the years – and her artistic 2026 Met Gala outfit.

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Teyana Taylor pulled up to the Met Gala like a silver storm, draped in head-to-toe fringe that moved with every step. It’s giving texture, attitude and just enough mystery with that face-framing veil to remind everyone she knows exactly how to make an entrance.

Taylor knew she had to keep the momentum going after a successful awards season, and she did just that.

The queen of the Met Gala has finally arrived, fashionably late and stunning as always.

Rihanna looked like the picture of this year’s dress code as she posed on the carpet wearing a stunning metallic ensemble that looks like it could hang in a museum all on its own. With a top decked out in shiny crystals and beads, the Fenty mogul topped off the look with a crown of matching metallic curls. Her partner, A$AP Rocky, looked equally dapper in his pink-and-black Chanel fit.

Another stellar look for the Met Gala books. Thanks, Rihanna!

Little Miss Cardi B, indeed, brought the drama to the Met Gala carpet tonight. There’s not much I can say about her lacy, voluptuous, over-the-top gown except DAMN.

Leave it up to Heidi Klum, the Queen of Halloween, to take the 2026 Met Gala dress code theme very, very seriously.

Keke Palmer showed up to fashion’s biggest night looking like a million bucks — literally.

The “I Love Boosters” star arrived in glittery style to tonight’s Met Gala, donning a one-of-a-kind $1 million, 211-carat Wempe necklace made up of over 1,200 diamonds, according to People. The expensive accessory — which took creative director Patrick Sieroslawski over 300 hours to make by hand — completed Palmer’s lady-in-red look, which included an equally shiny dress and matching pumps. Now that’s how you make an entrance.

Anok Yai stepped onto the Met Gala carpet looking like pure art, wrapped in a dramatic black hood that felt both regal and haunting. With soft glam and that sculptural silhouette, she proved you don’t have to do the most to still shut everything down.

The tears are a nice touch, and we’re crying over this beautiful piece.

Yai is wearing Balenciaga.

Anok Yai at The 2026 Met Gala. pic.twitter.com/Xm6wZtwLKn

Jaafar Jackson brought the spirit of his uncle, Michael Jackson, to this year’s Met Gala. The “Michael” star — who portrays the King of Pop in the new biopic — made his debut at fashion’s biggest night of the year with a subtle homage to the music icon, wearing a black-and-gold Polo Ralph Lauren tuxedo that seems to reference his “Off the Wall” era.

“I wanted to go with something that’s still in the world of ‘Michael,’ with the film being out,” Jackson shared on Vogue’s Met Gala livestream. “It has a timeless feel, and I just felt right when I had it on.

GIVING OFF THE WALL #MetGala pic.twitter.com/YJlXS0HXRO

Beyoncé made sure she had her favorite people on hand as she graced the Met Gala for the first time in a decade on Monday.

The “Halo” singer looked oh-so regal donning a diamond embellished skeleton design by Balmain along with a sunburst headpiece as she walked the red carpet with her eldest daughter, Blue Ivy Carter.

Billionaire Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, are serving as lead sponsors and honorary chairs for the 2026 Met Gala, and the optics aren’t great.

Not only has the couple aligned with President Donald Trump’s administration, which has cut funding for the arts, but their appearance at the gala has come across as very “let them eat cake,” thanks to a nationwide surge in anti-rich sentiment. Bezo’s business practices have only intensified the eat-the-rich backlash, and his past links to Immigration and Customs Enforcement certainly don't help.

The couple paying their way into the fashion fundraiser was just one more reminder that we’re indeed seeing the second coming of the Gilded Age.

Kim Kardashian kept things simple at this year’s Met Gala — a little too simple if you ask me. Her interpretation of tonight’s theme translated into a simple sculpted bronze bodysuit with a pointy cone bra and attached skirt. Not the drama we’re looking for, but she still looks great.

It was only a matter of time before Kylie Jenner freed the nipple at the Met Gala.

In the past, the reality star has worn her fair share of sheer looks at fashion’s biggest night. However, on Monday, she opted for a nearly topless look altogether, with a nude illusion corset featuring fake nipple details on a dress by Schiaparelli.

Not necessarily art, but bold nonetheless.

Model Hailey Bieber was definitely feeling a little blue -- and gold -- when she walked the red carpet Monday night.

Bieber, a Met Gala regular, wore a cobalt blue chiffon gown topped with a bustier made of 24-karat gold, according to Elle.

If the gold bustier seemed very form-fitting, there was a good reason: It had to be sculpted onto her body, Bieber told a reporter.

She topped off the outfit with gold earrings and metallic leather sandals.

Bieber was by herself on the red carpet, while her husband, singer Justin Bieber, reportedly stayed home with their 20-month-old son, Jack Blues Bieber.

Model Gigi Hadid was seen parading down the Met Gala red carpet, despite her sister Bella possibly boycotting the event.

Bella, who has previously attended the gala five times, was nowhere to be seen at Monday night's event, after speculation ran rampant about her thoughts on Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos.

Page Six reported on Monday that Bella had liked an Instagram post captioned, “I love the ICE out pins but you can’t wear them to the @jeffbezos backed Met Gala!” The post, made by influencer Meredith Lynch, added: “Jeff Bezos supports this fucking mess. … I know the funds from the Met Gala go to a good cause, but it is wild to me that this event is sponsored by Jeff Bezos, who has backed Trump, who has slashed arts funding.”

Gigi has not publicly commented on her sister's decision not to attend the event.

Sarah Paulson is looking like money on the 2026 Met Gala red carpet — quite literally.

On Monday, the “All’s Fair” star attended fashion’s biggest night in a massive, grey Matières Fécales gown. But the star of the show was her unexpected accessory — a dollar bill, which she sported as a mask. Paulson paired her look with long, elegant white gloves and a silver necklace.

Now, we all waited for this. Colman Domingo appeared in this wonderful, patterned number. Time after time, Domingo is the one person you want to see on the red carpet. He pulls through, once again, with this simple look for the Met Gala. You go, Colman!

Colman Domingo says his #MetGala look is inspired by Basquiat. pic.twitter.com/1PK6uSoir1

Behold, Sabrina! Not Audrey Hepburn’s 1954 film, but Sabrina Carpenter dressed as the movie itself.

The singer’s all-black Met Gala look was directly inspired by her favorite old Hollywood rom-com, which she happens to share a name with. Her custom Dior dress was adorned with film strips and intricate beading. (If you look close enough, you might just see Hepburn’s co-stars Humphrey Bogart and William Holden).

The stars are taking "all hands on me" to a new level at the Met Gala.

Thai consultant Nichapat Suphap pulled up and gave us "Renaissance" realness with silver, 3-D hands on her black dress. She understood the assignment, and Beyoncé would be proud.

Jewelry designer and socialite Sabine Getty was flesh- and fashion-forward in a cobweb-like dress with human-like hands artfully plastered on her body.

Social media personality Lena Mahfouf left us with nothing more than a mouthful of compliments. There are sculpted hands on her breasts and a gorgeous, long skirt to accentuate her curves. Go 'head, girl!

Dermatologist Lisa Airan stunned with a multi-colored, bodycon dress featuring hands plastered all over her. Colorful, fashionable and the true meaning of art.

We can always count on Janelle Monáe to show up and show out at the Met Gala. And this year was no different.

The “Dirty Computer” artist seemed to gather every electrical cable she could find to top off her custom Christian Siriano gown, complete with live moss, moving mechanical butterflies, dragonflies and 5,000 black crystals.

The nature-inspired look joined Monáe’s long track record of stunning Met Gala outfits — no doubt, the most creative of the night.

Former New York City mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa (R) was spotted walking along the Central Park road behind the Met, telling HuffPost he was “counting the number of cops” who were “protecting the billionaires” at the gala.

“Those people are totally indulgent, selfish —,” began Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels and a Republican who lost to Zohran Mamdani in last year’s NYC mayoral election, about the guests inside. “What are we doing for the homeless here? Why don’t they go into the subways?”

Sliwa, who was walking outside the museum’s police-flanked perimeter with his wife Nancy, claimed to spot some 200 officers at what he dubbed the “Masters of the Universe Ball." He suggested that the Met rely on its own security and that the event be held on New York’s Governors Island.

When asked whether he would have attended the gala had he been elected mayor, Sliwa emphatically said he would have skipped the event, much like Mamdani.

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