Met Gala Moments that Live in My Mind Rent Free

Happy Met Gala Monday, let's take a trip down memory lane through some of my favorite moments from the First Monday in May.

Do you hear that? It’s the sound of everyone on the internet becoming a fashion critic for one night, and one night only - it’s the First Monday in May. Happy Met Gala!

Of course, at its core, the Met Gala is a fundraiser held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to benefit the Costume Institute, but over the years it’s become fashion and the internet’s biggest night.

Over the years I’ve live-tweeted the red carpet and shared my thoughts on my Instagram story like every other unqualified individual on the internet but this year I thought I would prep us all for the big night with some history lessons. Yesterday I shared 10 of My Favorite Met Gala Looks, but as I stated in that post: I am not a fashion gay. I can appreciate a good look, but where I really thrive is niche pop culture moments. Dare I say moments that are too pop to handle!?

Here are some of my favorite Met Gala moments that have become burned into my brain.

If you’d like to keep up with my 2025 MetGala takes, follow me on Instagram for live updates on my Story, or tune into the podcast on Wednesday for a full recap.

Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and Solange walk into an elevator…

Probably one of the most infamous post-Met Gala moments is when Solange attacked Jay-Z in the elevator in 2014. We ALL remember where we were when these photos and videos came out, not to mention when Beyoncé referenced the moment on the Flawless Remix ft Nicki Minaj three months later. Though we’ll never know for sure what sparked this, Beyoncé showing up to the 2016 Met Gala solo just one month after Lemonade exposed Jay-Z for cheating on her with “Becky with the Good Hair” definitely doesn’t help the situation.

2014 Met Gala: Charles James: Beyond Fashion

Karli Kloss looking camp right in the eye

I mean does this even need an explanation?

2019 Met Gala: Camp: Notes on Fashion

Nicki Minaj and Cardi B “clear the air” in 2018

2017/2018 was such a wild time to be a fan of female rap. Cardi B emerged onto the scene with ‘Bodak Yellow’ topping the Billboard Charts for three consecutive weeks, making Cardi the second female rapper in history to reach number one with a solo song only after Ms. Lauryn Hill’s ‘Doo Wop (That Thing')’, and Nicki Minaj was gearing up to release her fourth studio album ‘Queen’ in 2018. It seemed obvious for the two of them to collab, which we got on Migos ‘MotorSport’, but not without some drama (IYKYK).

Fast forward to May 2018: Nicki and Cardi are seen “clearing the air” and putting feud rumors to rest. Fast forward to September 2018: they end up at the same NYFW event which ends with Nicki throwing a shoe at Cardi B, leaving her with a bruised eye (four months later, btw).

2018 Met Gala: Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination

Lorde stealing a fork for her mom in 2016

Remember that year Lorde used a cast as an accessory on the Met Gala red carpet? Taylor Swift and Florence Welch’s autographs on it weren’t the only souvenirs she brought home that night.

She later shared that she ended up swiping a fork from the table for her mom and five years later, referenced it in her song “The Path”

Arm in a cast at the Museum Gala
Fork in my purse to take home to my mother
Supermodels all dancing 'round a pharaoh's tomb

She’s rumored to be attending tonight - maybe she’ll steal a spoon this year.

2016 Met Gala: Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology

Keke Palmer’s catchy greeting for Megan thee Stallion

If you’re on TikTok, you know this one. While serving as the red carpet correspondent for Vogue in 2021, Keke Palmer had no reservations about letting her personality shine through while conducting these interviews.

I found myself quoting this video for months and loved that the internet took this and ran with it.

2021 Met Gala: In America: A Lexicon of Fashion

Emma Chamberlain and Jack Harlow confessing their love for each other

Another red carpet moment that is burned into my memory from the following Met Gala: this interview between Emma Chamberlain and Jack Harlow. Let me start off by saying that I absolutely love having Emma on these carpets - I think she adds such a charm to a typically stuffy event. That being said, this interview is pure gold from start to finish, but the real kicker is the last 0:45 seconds when Jack ends the interview saying “love you, bye” to which Emma responds “love you” and has a picture perfect “did I just say that?” response.

To make it even better, they reunited the following year and perfectly addressed their viral moment from the year prior.

2022 Met Gala: In America: A Lexicon of Fashion

That time a cockroach crashed the Met Gala

2023 Met Gala: Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty

Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston dancing together, sparking their three-month relationship

You know what they say: never fall in love at the Jersey Shore Met Gala. This is another one of those “you had to be there moments” like Nicki and Cardi because the whiplash from Taylor dating Calvin Harris to beach vacay photos with Tom Hiddleston was real. Who would have thought they would find love in a not-so-hopeless place like the Metropolitan Museum of Art!?

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Rihanna telling Tom Daley to take a photo of Troye Sivan using the urinal

When Rihanna tells you to snap a photo while taking a piss at the Met Gala in a Cartier dress, you snap the photo.

2021 Met Gala: In America: A Lexicon of Fashion

JLo being unphased by Katy Perry’s hamburger quick change

The Me tGala bathroom is undoubtedly a hot spot all night long (see above and below), but one of my favorite moments is when Katy Perry was getting back into her Moschino hamburger costume and JLo walked by as if this was nothing she hadn’t seen before. I suppose when you’ve been in the game for as long as she has, nothing phases you anymore.

2019 Met Gala: Camp: Notes on Fashion

"Jason Derulo has fallen down the steps of the Met Gala”

Sometimes the internet outdoes itself and this is one of those times.

Every year on Met Gala Monday this photo circulates with the caption “Jason Derulo has fallen down the Met Gala steps” - except this isn’t Jason Derulo and it isn’t even the Met steps. The original photo was taken at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011 but one year someone made the Jason Derulo joke and the internet has been running with it ever since. (Yes, Jason has acknowledged this not being him and no it doesn’t stop the internet from using it every year)

Here’s to another year of Fashion’s Biggest Night! Chat with you all on the podcast on Wednesday where I’ll do a full Met Gala recap.