The Met Gala was inundated with some of the biggest names in fashion on Monday night, from Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Rita Ora.
But a list of usual attendees failed to show up this year, leaving fashion fans horrified to wonder what was going on.
The dress code for this year’s fashion extravaganza was Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty – a tribute to the controversial German fashion designer, known for his work with Chanel, who passed away in 2019.
But Blake Lively’s absence was so widely noticed that she was trending on Twitter after her past Met Gala looks were praised year after year.
Fans tweeted, “There’s no Met Gala without Blake Lively,” and shared her past fashion masterpieces on social media.
It’s INCOMPLETE! Fans go wild as Met Gala icon Blake Lively REFUSED to attend Monday’s event and her BFF Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez, Katy Perry and Bella Hadid were also no-shows
But the 35-year-old did indeed confirm that she would not be attending the event in April, themed Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty.
At the grand reopening of Tiffany & Co.’s Fifth Avenue store, she told the press that instead of gracing the carpet, she will be watching from home.
According to Glamor, after a reporter complimented her 2022 look, she replied, “Thank you, that’s really sweet.” I’ll wear it on the couch on Monday.’
Blake and her husband Ryan Reynolds, 46, have attended the event for years.
Blake co-chaired last year’s In America: An Anthology of Fashion themed gala and arrived in a beautiful Versace gown inspired by the Statue of Liberty.
But Blake and Ryan welcomed their fourth child together earlier this year, and Blake only returned to the red carpet earlier this week.
Likewise, her BFF Taylor Swift, 33, was also absent after attending in previous years.
But her absence is easily explained because she just played three shows in Atlanta, Georgia for her Eras tour, including one the night before.
They miss her! People weren’t happy that Blake was watching the event from her couch, but she confirmed last month she wouldn’t be attending after recently welcoming her fourth child
It has been reported that she spends the evening preparing for her shows in Nashville that she will perform over the weekend.
She took to Instagram and wrote, “WOW Atlanta, just… wow. The band, dancers and I can’t stop talking about how insanely magical it has been to play for you for the past 3 nights.
“You were always bouncing, dancing, and screaming every single lyric. And you’ve created so many breathtaking moments for us, you know what I mean. Loove yooooo. Hey Nashville, you’re NEXT.”
Beyoncé, 41, also chose not to attend and hasn’t actually graced the Met Gala with her presence since 2016.
But it’s understandable that she might not be going, as her Renaissance World Tour kicks off in Stockholm on May 10, so she’s busy preparing for it.
In 2022, she and her musician husband Jay-Z were photographed in Miami after spending time on a private island off the coast of Florida.
In 2021, the superstar duo flew to Europe for a romantic vacation and they enjoyed their time on a large yacht.
Lady Gaga, 37, is known for her iconic looks on the Met Gala red carpet, but she’s been absent for two years in a row now.
She was inactive on social media but was busy promoting her new movie, Jochre: Folie à Deux, on which she recently filmed.
Last year, Gaga was performing at her Las Vegas residency show, Jazz and Piano, at the time, so she couldn’t attend.
Her last Met Gala appearance was at the 2019 event, where she had four fabulous outfit changes — literally — on the red carpet.
Selena Gomez, 30, may have been away from the Met for four years, but she didn’t return to grace the red carpet either.
She’s been busy promoting Rare Beauty and Wondermind, and while she was recently in New York to shoot her TV series Only Murders in the Building’s third season, ELLE report that she left town shortly after it wrapped to take a break.
Katy Perry, 38, is something of a queen when it comes to her Met Gala looks, so she must have been pretty disheartened to miss out on this year’s spectacle.
But she had American Idol movie commitments, so she couldn’t make it.
Chrissy Teigen was another no-show for no reason why she didn’t attend.
The presence of supermodel Bella Hadid was particularly missed at the event.
The 26-year-old has yet to publicly respond to her absence of just one recent Instagram post hints she may be on a bit of downtime.
Bella recently shared videos of herself riding a horse back when she thought she was on the family farm in Pennsylvania.
Other notable absentees included members of the Kardashian/Jenner family.
Neither Kris Jenner, 67, Kourtney Kardashian, 44, nor Khloe Kardashian, 38, attended, with rumors that their invites got lost in the mail.