Which Stars Have Never Been to the Met Gala?

Reported by Harper's Bazaar.

The Met Gala is fashion's Super Bowl—the night when Hollywood's A-list convenes to worship at the altar of haute couture and designer excess. Which makes it wild that some of the biggest names on the planet have never set foot inside that velvet rope. According to Harper's Bazaar, a surprising roster of superstars have opted out of fashion's most exclusive party, and their reasons range from brutally honest to genuinely relatable.

Take Jennifer Aniston. She's been invited countless times but straight-up refuses, explaining to Glamour that the whole production stresses her out. "It overwhelms me. It's the getting ready, the putting on the dress," she said, adding that the mental gymnastics of dolling up to sit in a room full of peers just isn't her scene. Fair. Then there's Britney Spears, who once posted on Instagram that she'd rather take a bath with her dog in pajamas than deal with the event—and she hates flying anyway. Meryl Streep was actually supposed to co-chair the 2020 Met Gala, but the pandemic canceled it before she got the chance. Jane Fonda has been blunt about her disdain for the whole red-carpet industrial complex: "I don't care if I ever do that again. I don't enjoy it; I never have."

The A-List Absentees

Some of Hollywood's biggest earners have just never made the cut. Brad Pitt sticks to movie premieres and award shows. Dwayne Johnson, despite being one of the world's most bankable stars, has never attended. Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have skipped it, though their kids Jaden and Willow have showed up—apparently the family passes on fashion's biggest night together. Angelina Jolie doesn't do red carpets unless they're tied to her films or charity work, so the Met's pure fashion angle doesn't register.

Then there's Drake, who actually explained his absence in a 2022 track. In "Sticky," he raps about only getting a plus-one when he needs to bring an entire entourage. "You know I gotta bring the set," he sings, acknowledging that the Met's strict guest limitations don't work for his crew mentality. Adele, meanwhile, has had legitimate scheduling conflicts with touring and residencies, plus she just doesn't do red carpets when she's not dropping an album. And Octavia Spencer, despite her memorable carpet moments, still hasn't made her Met debut.

What's genuinely fascinating here is that missing the Met doesn't seem to matter anymore—not for your career, not for your relevance, not for anything. Some of the world's biggest stars have simply decided the performance isn't worth it.

Read the original at Harper's Bazaar.