Met Gala 2025: The Five Most Controversial Moments

Newsweek

06-05-2025

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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Fashion's biggest night has unfolded to the delight and derision of the internet. This year's Met Gala was focused on the aesthetic and political roots of Black dandyism fashion through the lens of this year's theme: "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style."
This year was a landmark event for the Gala, marking the first time the Costume Institute has centered Black style, and the first time in two decades that it decided to focus on men's fashion.
Lisa and Amelia Gray attend the 2025 Met Gala Celebrating "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 5, 2025, in New York City.
Lisa and Amelia Gray attend the 2025 Met Gala Celebrating "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 5, 2025, in New York City.
Theo Wargo/FilmMagic
As hundreds of A-listers stepped out to walk the Met steps in a series of exquisitely tailored looks, a few key controversial moments quickly started to do the rounds online. Newsweek looks at the five most controversial moments from the Met Gala 2025.
Lisa from Blackpink's Rosa Parks Pants
K-pop and White Lotus star Lisa has drawn criticism following her appearance at the Met Gala, where she wore an embroidered Louis Vuitton bodysuit with a collage of different faces, including what appeared to be the civil rights activist Rosa Parks on her underwear.
Lisa arrives for the 2025 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 5, 2025, in New York.
Lisa arrives for the 2025 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 5, 2025, in New York.
ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images
So if you saw "Rosa Parks underwear" trending on social media during the Met Gala and were confused, that's why. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, viewed over a million times as of reporting, @bratzzzmin wrote "lisa doesn't seem to care as she wears underwear with images of ROSA PARKS, a civil rights icon who fought against racial injustice."
A representative for Louis Vuitton told The Cut that the print was created by the artist Henry Taylor and depicts "portraits of figures who have been a part of the artist's life."
Newsweek has reached out to a representative for Lisa and to LVMH, Louis Vuitton's parent company, for comment via email.
Amelia Gray Wearing What Appeared To Be A Durag
Amelia Gray Hamlin, the American model, wore a head-to-toe red lacy look from Valentino. One particular element of Gray's ensemble caught the attention of people online, but not necessarily for the right reasons.
Amelia Gray Hamlin attends the 2025 Met Gala Celebrating "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 5, 2025, in New York City.
Amelia Gray Hamlin attends the 2025 Met Gala Celebrating "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 5, 2025, in New York City.
TheStewartofNY/Getty Images
Gray wore what appeared to be a red lace durag. A durag is a type of headwear worn by Black people to protect their hair and they are also worn as a fashion and style choice in Black and African American culture.
Because Amelia Gray is white—her parents are actor Harry Hamlin and actress Lisa Rinna—this accessory choice did not go down well online. Comments on a post of Gray leaving the Mark Hotel read "yikes," and "not the durag," while one social media user wrote on X: "amelia gray at the met gala. Um this was definitely a choice."
Newsweek has reached out to a representative for Amelia Gray via email for comment.
Former Attendees Publicly Boycotting the Gala
The Met Gala is a star-studded affair, tickets for which cost roughly $75,000. The exclusivity of the event, in addition to the display of wealth, often prompts discourse on social media in response about boycotting the event.
This year, though, that discourse was prompted by a former attendee of the gala, the American writer and grandson of President John F. Kennedy, Jack Schlossberg.
In a video shared to TikTok prior to the event, which has been viewed more than 300,000 times as of reporting, he said, "I am boycotting the Met Gala this year, with so much happening at home and around the world, it's not the time for a party like that."
Newsweek has reached out to a representative for Schlossberg for comment via email.
Wisdom Kaye's Absence
Wisdom Kaye, the American-Nigerian model and social media influencer known for his fashion content who has previously been described by Vogue as "TikTok's best-dressed guy," was not in attendance at the Met Gala, much to the upset of the internet.
I was not invited to the met, I know you guys wanna see me there so just letting y'all know. Looking forward to seeing all the beautiful interpretations of black dandyism tmrw :) — Wisdom Kaye (@modsiwW) May 4, 2025
Kaye shared in a post on X that he was not invited, writing: "I was not invited to the met, I know you guys wanna see me there so just letting y'all know. Looking forward to seeing all the beautiful interpretations of black dandyism."
The post has been viewed over 12.6 million times as of reporting. @BrettKollmann responded in a post that has been viewed over 100,000 times: "Absolutely baffling decision on so many levels."
Mandy Lee, better known by her handle @oldloserinbrooklyn, a fashion and trend analyst with a prominent social media platform, addressed this in a video on TikTok, which has been viewed over 200,000 times, and said that Kaye should have been the special correspondent for Vogue that night.
"Wisdom could've done phenomenal," she said. "The Met will be missing a very special person tonight."
Newsweek has reached out to a representative for Kaye via email for comment.
Lorde Seemingly Being Mistaken For Charli XCX On The Red Carpet
Girl, so confusing. The singer Lorde was seemingly mistaken for Charli XCX on the Met Gala red carpet, with a video on TikTok showing various paparazzi calling the name Charli while it was in fact Lorde on the steps.
This is an awkward slipup at the best, but Charli XCX and Lorde have a long history of being mistaken for and compared to each other. Back in 2014, Charli XCX was interviewed by a woman who thought she was Lorde and proceeded to ask her about Lorde's songs. Charli XCX previously told Rolling Stone that she had been jealous of Lorde's success, particularly when the 2013 song Royals came out.
The two addressed this on Charli XCX's hit album Brat, where the pair worked on a song together titled Girl, So Confusing, about their relationship.