NEW YORK (AP) â Fashion's biggest night is underway â after all, it is the first Monday in May. Follow along for real-time updates on the from The Associated Press. We'll be bringing you news in all formats, all day and all night, from the carpet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and behind the scenes. This year's theme revolves around late fashion designer
Live updates are contributed by , , , , , and other AP journalists.
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IS RIHANNA AT THE MET GALA?
Yes! About an hour and a half after reporters were told to expect one more guest in about 15 minutes, Rihanna herself arrived at the Met Gala. She ascended the steps in voluminous white bedecked with rosettes that doubled as a hood, accompanied by A$AP Rocky in a kilt-type layer over jeans (reminiscent of mid-aughts Disney Channel couture).
It's just May and it's already been a year of grand entrances for Rihanna, who in February.
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MET GALA COCKROACH, 2023-2023
The cockroach has been stepped on. While it's possible the cockroach was born in 2022, given that they have an adult lifespan of around six months, we reckoned that lifespan shortens significantly in New York City.
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IS RIHANNA AT THE MET GALA?
No. At least, not yet. It's 10:05 p.m.
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MEANWHILE, A CUTE MOMENT
While we wait, here's a cute moment witnessed by AP's Brooke Lefferts: Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union departed and then Britney Griner walked down the Met steps to cheers. Wade came back in to hug Griner, chatting with her and then FaceTiming his daughter on his phone. He did a pan as all the press yelled and waved: âThanks,â he said, âI wanted to show my daughter what the Met Gala was like.â
Wade has two daughters, 4-year-old Kaavia and 15-year-old Zaya, who is trans. Wade recently said in an interview with Rachel Nichols that his family left Florida because his family wouldn't be accepted, a reference to the state's pursuit of anti-LGBTQ+ policies.
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MYSTERY AT THE MET
It's nearly 9:30 p.m. All the reporters at the Met Gala are in a holding pattern. We've been told someone big is coming, and we've been told that for the last 40 minutes or so. But the identity and the location of the final guest remains a mystery: Is it Rihanna, known for a grand â and late â entrance? coming to extract revenge on Jared Leto? Is it the cockroach that AP's Beatrice Dupuy just saw scurry up the stairs?
âWho are you wearing?â a reporter yelled. The roach did not respond.
Inside the Met Gala, with cocktails over and done, most had gone inside for dinner. Left behind were the journalists like AP's Jocelyn Noveck, awaiting the whoever â or whatever â is coming.
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DRESSED TO (THE) NINE(S)
It's 8:50 p.m. and cocktails are long over inside the Met. Dinner was supposed to start at 8 p.m. But it seems as if the carpet has some life still left in it, even with appearances by what would be showstoppers â like Jeremy Pope in a massive Karl Lagerfeld cape â at any other event already gone by.
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THE BUZZ ABOUT FLORENCE PUGH
did not hold back for her Met Gala debut. The 27-year-old actor surprised onlookers with a shaved head, adorned with a sky-high feathered headpiece by Valentino. Her gown, also Valentino, was white with a black ribbon.
Pugh has sported several showstopping Valentino looks lately, including at the Venice Film Festival premiere of âDonât Worry Darlingâ and then again at the Oscars earlier this year. Last week she revealed that she was the new star of Valentinoâs Rockstud bag campaign.
But it was her hair that drew the most attention. Some onlookers wondered if it was a wig.
In an interview last week with the New York Times she teased that her Met Gala look was going to be âbig.â
âThe idea is to be as bold as possible. I love the power that it gives me. I love how it sparks conversation,â Pugh said. âEvery time I step out in whatever dress, thatâs a version of me that Iâm really proud of. So it doesnât matter if people donât necessarily like it. I donât think anything that I do has to be 100% loved. Things being up for debate is good. It means people are interested."
Just last week, Pugh attended an event with a long blonde bob with bangs.
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BRITNEY GRINER SPEAKS OUT
Brittney Griner knows she has an advantage over other Americans being detained overseas as a public figure with access to media.
The WNBA star used that influence on the carpet at the Met Gala to talk about helping support families working to free Americans jailed in foreign prisons through the organization Bring Our Families Home, dressed in Calvin Klein and alongside her wife
The 6-foot, 9-inch Griner is finally taking on a more public profile after being on Dec. 8, 10 months after she was arrested at a Moscow airport. Authorities said a search of her luggage revealed vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. She later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to nine years in prison.
Griner recently appeared at and attended the in Washington on Saturday. She had since her release in preparation for the upcoming basketball season, which starts May 19.
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PRECIOUS LEE ON FATPHOBIA
Model Precious Lee only had only positive things to say about Karl Lagerfeldâs designs Monday at the Met Gala. âItâs alluring, seductive, captivating, timeless, elevated,â Lee told The Associated Press.
Lee, a plus-sized model, wore a black Fendi gown with a hot pink Fendi baguette purse for the night.
She did not have any direct comment about Lagerfeldâs comments about fat people, but simply said, âIâm fab. Always have been, always will be.â
Lagerfeld was not shy about his own fatphobia and did not think he should have to cast models of different sizes in his shows.
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SERENA WILLIAMS PREGNANT, TOO!
Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian announced they were expecting a baby during a Vogue livestream interview with La La Anthony.
The tennis superstar announced she would saying she wanted to focus on her business interests â and having another child.
Williams and Ohanian beamed as they told Anthony there were three of them up there for the interview. Then Ohanian and Anthony both offered to have a drink on Williams' behalf inside.
The couple has a 5-year-old daughter, Olympia. Williams actually announced her intention to in an essay for â where else? â Vogue.
Earlier in the night, Karlie Kloss also announced she was pregnant.
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WHO'S THAT CAT?
New York's rat czar can rest easy â the cats have overrun the Met. There's still no Choupette (how many times can we link to our story on her absence?), but the attendees are stepping up:
1. Jared Leto talked to AP's John Carucci as Choupette. He didn't just channel her spirit from across the ocean â that was him in a giant, white fursuit complete with heart-melting eyes. At some point, though, the head came off, at which point it looked alarmingly like a medieval battle trophy.
2. Lil Nas X talked to cameras in meows. If you speak Cat, help meow-t. The singer's look was âcrystallized cat,â created by Pat McGrath and Dior Men.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this item said Leto told the AP he lost a bet. He, in fact, said âC'est moi, Choupette.â ("It's me, Choupette").
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DOJA CAT. THAT'S THE HEADLINE.
Doja Cat leaned into her name and love of cats for her first Met Gala look. The rapper arrived on the carpet with makeup and prosthetics that gave her a felineâs face, cat claws for her nails and sequined dress with cat ears.
âIâm just really happy about it and I feel sexy,â she said of the look.
The makeup took 45 minutes to an hour and getting the dress on took about 20 minutes.
Doja Cat said the inspiration for her look came immediately when she heard this yearâs theme, which honors the late designer Karl Lagerfeld, who counted among his many muses
âWe just went for it,â she said.
A viewer of AP's livestream of departures from the nearby Mark Hotel could purr-dict that something was afoot. Doja left ensconced in a phalanx of umbrellas, much to the chagrin of the present fans, photographers and video journalists.
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ACCESSORIES JOURNALISM
Itâs all in the details. Some notable accessories on the carpet:
3. Chloe Finemanâs cat-shaped bag, a Choupette substitute (weâre really sad if you couldnât tell. This isnât an accessory, but Emma Chamberlain wore âChoupette blue,â by the way)
4. Rita Oraâs long, jeweled chain nails
5. Irina Shaykâs ballet flats
6. David Byrneâs bicycle, complete with a handbasket
7. Chloe Malleâs âAliceâs Adventures in Wonderlandâ purse
8. An unrecognizably blonde Jessica Chastain's sunglasses (that she was asked to remove because no one could tell who she was)
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SIGH: WHO WORE IT BEST?
What would Karl say? Actor and filmmaker and Margaret Zhang, Vogue China's editor-in-chief, showed up to the Met Gala in what appeared to be the same Chloe dress in different colors. Wildeâs was white and Zhangâs was black, but both had a gold embellishment that resembled a guitar on their torsos.
The fashion faux pas caught fire on social media as people pulled out old jokes about âthe dressâ that some people saw as blue and black and some people saw as white and gold.
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KARLIE KLOSS' SECRET PLUS-ONE
No one gets an automatic plus-one to the Met Gala â unless you're . Accompanied by her husband Josh Kushner, Kloss revealed her pregnancy in an interview with Emma Chamberlain on the Vogue livestream â much to the host's excitement.
Kloss and Kushner also have a son, born in 2021.
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BOB IGER ALL SMILES AMID LAYOFFS AT HAUS OF MOUSE
Disney CEO Bob Iger was all smiles on the Met Gala carpet amid and a on Wednesday over the Republicanâs takeover of its theme park district, alleging the governor waged a âtargeted campaign of government retaliationâ after the company opposed a law critics call
Iger said the Met Gala is âone of the best nights of the year.â Iger said that the Met Gala may be second to the happiest place on earth but that itâs âthe happiest night on earth.â
When asked about the lawsuit Iger told the AP that he had nothing more to say âthan what weâve already said.â
The Walt Disney Co. last week also went through a second round of layoffs this year in an effort to cut 7,000 jobs before the summer.
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HOPE IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS â AND SO IS GISELE
Gisele BĂŒndchen looked happy and confident on the Met Gala carpet, wearing a white sequined Chanel gown with a white feathered cape draped on her shoulders with her hair in long, beachy waves.
The supermodel wore the gown previously, in 2007, for a Harperâs Bazaar Korea shoot, shot on location by Lagerfeld.
The last time BĂŒndchen attended the Met Gala was in 2019 with then-husband Tom Brady. The pair
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MICHAELA COEL IS HERSELF
âWhat I like about you is you're unafraid to be yourself.â That's what said Anna Wintour told her when she asked why she was picked as a co-chair of this year's gala. Coel told Vogue livestream host La La Anthony that Wintour likened the British multihyphenate to Lagerfeld in that way.
âI'm just out here being myself," Coel declared, clad in a Schiaparelli dress with more than 130,000 crystals and chain embellishment.
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QUINTA BRUNSON DID HER HOMEWORK
On brand for her âAbbott Elementaryâ character, Quinta Brunson knows her fashion and studied up before her first Met Gala.
The writer-actor says her dress was inspired by a piece in Karl Lagerfeldâs 1992 collection, while her hair inspiration came from one of the late fashion designerâs 2003 shows.
Asked how she felt about attending her first Met Gala, Brunson says, âIâm just speechless. Iâm just really happy to be here.â
The Emmy winner has become a fixture recently in New Yorkâs fashion world, attending several shows during Februaryâs fashion week.
On the eve of a the proud WGA member said: "No one wants a strike but I hope that weâre able to rectify this. Whatever that means.â
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NICOLE KIDMAN CREDITS KARL
âIâm wearing a dress that Karl designed for me 20 years ago. Iâm very grateful to wear it. He was so much a part of my life as were his whole team,â Nicole Kidman said. âHe was the one really sort of shepherded me ⊠in terms of my love of fashion.â
In 2004, the Australian actor appeared in a three-minute shot by director Baz Luhrmann. Lagerfeld designed the costumes and also appeared in the short.
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PENĂLOPE CRUZ FEELS LUCKY
Actor PenĂ©lope Cruz, one of this yearâs Met Gala co-chairs, said she felt lucky and privileged to be part of group honoring a genius, the late designer Karl Lagerfeld, who she said she was lucky to call a friend.
âHe really deserves this and not only because of his talent and his generosity,â Cruz said. âI know people at Chanel for almost 30 years. I know, like whoever is and has been there for so long, they loved him so much. Itâs not just the ones at the top.â
Cruz, who has an ongoing relationship with Chanel, said that everyone at the house is treated with respect. On Monday she wore a hooded, sheer, white gown by Chanel.
âIâm proud to be working with a brand that has those values,â she said.
Lagerfeld transformed the historic fashion brand but also was a controversial figure for his views on fatness, gay men who want to adopt children, migrants, sexual assault survivors, the #MeToo movement and âuglyâ people.
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ROGER FEDERER, A LA MODE
Asked how he got to be a Met Gala co-chair, tennis great Roger Federer says it helps to know Anna Wintour.
Federer is one of the eveningâs chairs and among the early arrivals, walked up the Metâs carpeted steps a few minutes after fellow co-chair Dua Lipa arrived.
The tennis star says it makes sense for athletes to be at the Met Gala because theyâve become a bigger part of the fashion world in recent years.
âI think the sports people have gotten more and more fashionable,â Federer told the AP. âWeâre fortunate to get onto covers much more frequently nowadays. Before it was always the models, the good-looking people, not the athletes."
âLife has been so intertwined between sports and fashion in recent years, so itâs nice to come out on a type of red carpet like this,â he said before ascending the steps.
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DUA LIPA IS VERY SPECIAL
Met Gala co-chair Dua Lipa wore a Tiffany diamond around her neck that she called âvery specialâ and that she hoped shimmered for the night. The singer's cream-colored dress, by Chanel from 1992, was also âvery, very specialâ as it has been on her mood boards, she said. Claudia Schiffer wore the gown on the runway for its debut, although hers had a matching hat.
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ANNA WINTOUR ON HER FRIEND KARL
Karl Lagerfeld was âa very kind person,â Anna Wintour â Vogue's editor-in-chief and the host and mastermind behind the gala â said when asked what people misunderstand about the late designer.
She also said she hoped âhe would understand how many people love and respect him.â
Wintour was escorted by actor Bill Nighy.
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BOTTLE EPISODE
More on the decor, courtesy the Costume Institute:
âEach side of the red carpet tent is lined with trompe lâoeil panels inspired by 18th century French decorative arts, which Lagerfeld collected. The traditional hedges of greenery and florals are replaced this year with light installations comprised of recycled water bottles lit with a blue glow. Matching chandeliers also hang above the carpet. The Great Hall information desk is transformed into a cylindrical-shaped architectural installation, also comprised of recycled water bottles lit with a blue hue.â
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MAKING ITS MARK
The Mark Hotel has become an integral part of the Met Gala fabric. Located one avenue and about four blocks away from the museum, it bills itself as âNew York's most boldly lavish hotelâ and it's where many high-profile guests get ready for the gala. There's no chance of getting a room there tonight, but fans and photogs alike are lining the entrance to capture departures. We even up right now.
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RED CARPETS ARE SO LAST YEAR
You'd be forgiven for thinking the Met Gala seemingly into the exclusive party.
Garnished with red and blue lines snaking up the famed stairs, the Met Gala carpet also pays tribute to the Karl Lagerfeld exhibit inside, which âcenters first and foremost on the dichotomy of the curved âSâ line (think romantic, decorative) and the straight line (modern, minimalist), with one curved wall and one straight wall in each gallery,â according to APâs Jocelyn Noveck.
But the Oscars' departure from the typical red this year actually came courtesy creative consultants Lisa Love, a longtime Vogue contributor, and RaĂșl Ăvila â the creative director of none other than, you guessed it, the Met Gala.
The carpet's design shows one of Japanese architect Tadao Ando's original sketches for the exhibition, a publicist for the Costume Institute said.
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PEEK AT THE GUEST LIST
The worlds of fashion, Hollywood, sports and music are set to collide at the Met Gala tonight.
There will be supermodels, including Amber Valletta, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Carolyn Murphy, Emily Ratajkowski and Gigi Hadid walking alongside sports icons like Serena Williams, host Roger Federer, Dwyane Wade, Russell Westbrook, Patrick Mahomes and Andy Roddick. Along those lines:
Stars from hit shows like âSuccession,â including Jeremy Strong and Alexander SkarsgĂ„rd and âThe Last of Us,â with Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal are expected, as are several recent Oscar winners like âEverything Everywhere All At Onceâsâ Ke Huy Quan and Michelle Yeoh.
Broadway will be well represented with Phillipa Soo, Ben Platt, Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff as well as a host of movie stars, including the likes of Margot Robbie, Anne Hathaway, Jennifer Lopez, Rami Malek, Robert Pattinson, Hugh Jackman and Florence Pugh, directors (Baz Luhrmann, Taika Waititi, Olivia Wilde and Sofia Coppola among them) and even executives, like Disney CEO Bob Iger and Interscope co-founder Jimmy Iovine.
There will be designers like Miuccia Prada, Stella McCartney, Vera Wang, Donatella Versace, Prabal Gurung, Tommy Hilfiger and Alessandro Michele, heiresses like Paris Hilton and Ivy Getty and actual royalty, like Charlotte Casiraghi. And from the music world, Billie Eilish, FINNEAS, Lil Nas X, host Dua Lipa, Tems and Usher.
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WHO'S MISSING FROM THE GUEST LIST?
The guest list handed out to reporters was more than seven pages long â but there were some big names missing. The mononymous showstoppers from previous years â BeyoncĂ©, Rihanna and Zendaya â were all absent.
Blake Lively this year. Lively's good friend Taylor Swift also wasn't on the list; while her Eras tour is in full swing, she played Atlanta last night and isn't due to play Nashville until Friday.
Two of Lagerfeld's own âchoupettesâ (human edition), Vanessa Paradis and daughter Lily-Rose Depp, were also not on the list. But surprises are never out of the question.
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KARDASHIAN WATCH
Unfounded rumors flew about whether the Kardashians were even invited to this year's Met Gala; Kim put them at rest when she posted to Instagram a research trip to Paris (complete with a stop to ).
But who else from the Kardashian-Jenner clan made the cut? According to the guest list provided to press at the venue, Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner are the only other attendees slated to come.
But what about the extended universe? Kendall's rumored beau Bad Bunny is on the list; Kylie's â one TimothĂ©e Chalamet, â is not. Also on the list: Kim's ex, Pete Davidson. The pair with Kim clad in the famous Marilyn Monroe dress.
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DRESS TO IM-PRESS
The press line opened hours before the stars are scheduled to descend upon the Met. As AP's own Beatrice Dupuy waited patiently on a gray Manhattan afternoon, she noted that fans had already started packing the streets around the Upper East Side museum. But even at 3 p.m. Eastern, the police presence was minimal as workers clad in yellow vests cleaned the sidewalks.
The press line was full of reporters trying their best to emulate Chanel, with many a dark suit or tux on men and women alike. A star himself joined their ranks: In a pink ensemble accessorized with giant rosettes, Harvey Guillén (Guillermo of fame) queued up to get set for a hosting stint with E! News.
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HAVE YOU MET THE DEBT GALA?
Monday's gala is a benefit for the museum's Costume Institute and a pricey affair â last year, the exclusive event brought in more than $17 million. For those with no invite or who aren't inclined to spend tens of thousands, alternative events have popped up in recent years.
On the torrentially rainy Sunday before, the Brooklyn borough played host to two such events: at the Brooklyn Public Library, and at The Bell House. The former is a free event that allows guests to sashay down the runway in the Central Library's lobby. The library's website doesn't specifically reference the Met Gala â rather, pitting itself âin contrast to the elite galas that pop up across the city in the springâ â but the Debt Gala very much does.
Around 300 people attended the inaugural Debt Gala, raising more than $15,000 for RIP Medical Debt, organizers told the AP. This year's funds will go toward buying and wiping out others' medical debt, but organizers say the gala might target different types of debt in future years.
Inspired by the 2016 Met Gala theme, the Debt Gala chose âGarbage X Glamourâ for a sustainability focus. âThe drama of the weather matched the drama of the looks,â organizers said â among them: a pink shawl and personal runway made of bubble wrap; a harness made of tampons and condoms created by performer Joyelle Nicole Johnson; a green corset made of CDs; and, of course, a dress made of trash bags.
The guests had to evacuate the venue because of flooding, but sustained the night at a nearby bar.
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PAS DE CHAT: NO CHOUPETTE
The Met Gala guest list is highly secretive and thus in great demand. But this year, there was one name that had fashion fans and the press achatter:
Would Lagerfeld's muse â who also happened to be the late designer's cat â leave her perch in France for New York? Alas, she has spoken: Non.
Choupette â or an oracle with opposable thumbs â on Monday morning to dispel rumors that she would walk (or be walked) up the iconic stairs. While she expressed gratitude that the man she calls âDaddyâ was being honored, she said âwe preferred to stay peacefully & cozy at home.â
Her account posted the photo Monday morning. If she's changed her mind in the hours since, she could still make the gala â after all, the flight from Paris to New York is around eight hours and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection does not require domestic cats to quarantine upon arrival. Oui, we checked.
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INSIDE THE MET EXHIBIT
AP's Jocelyn Noveck got a With a bit of cheek, a doorway is emblazoned with the words: âFashion does not belong in a museum.â And yet visitors are treated to 14 galleries of fashion in the museum. While that quote came from Lagerfeld himself, Noveck notes that the exhibit otherwise doesn't focus on Lagerfeld's more contentious takes.
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WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH KARL LAGERFELD
The late fashion designer's selection as the theme is not without controversy, with some criticizing his unapologetically polemical comments on a variety of topics, including xenophobic and fatphobic remarks. AP Entertainment Writer Leanne Italie, who will be anchoring our coverage tonight,
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WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THIS YEAR'S MET GALA
This year is themed around the Metropolitan Museum of Art's new exhibit, âKarl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty.â Given that Lagerfeld was, well, a fashion designer, you can expect many a haute look.
The guest list is heavily guarded, but every year leaks do escape. Check out for a sneak peek on who might walk up those iconic stairs tonight, brought to you by AP National Writer Jocelyn Noveck (who will also bring you one of the rare dispatches from inside the event).
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HOW TO WATCH THE MET GALA
A livestream will kick off at 6:30 p.m. Eastern. But the AP can give you a first look at what to expect â check back here in the late afternoon for a a nearby venue where many stars get ready for the gala.
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