The 2023 Met Gala is on May 1 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. I don’t know about you, but I absolutely can’t wait for it. As a night of glamorous outfits from some of the most well-known names in Hollywood, it’s essentially my Super Bowl. This year, the theme for the Met Gala is Karl Lagerfgeld: A Line of Beauty, paying tribute to the designer, Karl Lagerfeld, who passed away in 2019. You can expect attendees to don either some of his notable designs from throughout his 54 years as a designer, or outfits inspired by his designs.
As for who might be in attendance, one of the most anticipated names is none other than Zendaya. Whether you grew up watching her on Shake it Up or are more familiar with his recent works in The Greatest Showman, Euphoria or the 2017 Spiderman trilogy, she’s become a household name and a force to be reckoned with by the age of 26. But will Zendaya be at the 2023 Met Gala? Let’s break down why people think she might be attending this year. (Her Campus reached out to Zendaya’s team for comment, but didn’t hear back by the time of publication.)
The rumors of Zendaya attending the Met Gala first began when the Pop Hive tweeted a list of rumored celebrities that might be going. Aside from Zendaya, Selena Gomez, Nicki Minaj, Beyonce, Katy Perry, Rose, Jennie, Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Rosalia, Bad Bunny, Rihanna, and many others were on the list. However, we won’t actually know if Zendaya is attending until the night of if she shows up on the red carpet, just like everyone else on the rumored list. The only attendees guaranteed to be there are hosts La La Anthony, Derek Basberg and Chloe Fineman, along with Emma Chamberlain as a special correspondent for Vogue.
Not only does the tweet suggest that Zendaya may be attending the Met Gala, but she also has a track record of attending this momentous event. Her first ever Met Gala was in 2015 where she wore a custom Fausto Puglisi sun motif dress. Another of her notable Met Gala looks was when she wore two Cinderella inspired outfits in 2019: one being the iconic blue ballgown, and the other being the pink dress that Cinderella’s mice had made for her.
Those Cinderella looks also marked the last time that she attended the event, meaning that if she attends this year, it will be the first time in four years. The 2020 Met Gala was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Zendaya didn’t attend in 2021 because she was filming Euphoria or 2022 because she was filming Challengers. A lot has happened in her life and her career since then, so there’s a possibility that if she does appear, her outfit could reflect that shift.
While we don’t know for sure if Zendaya is attending the Met Gala, we can certainly hope for it. As we spend these last few days in anticipation, you can get your Zendaya fix by watching her performance from Coachella on April 22 or by catching up on her filmography. All I know is that come the evening of Monday, May 1, I will be seated and ready to watch the Met Gala to see if the queen really is in attendance.