Why Taylor Swift Will Not be Attending the 2024 Met Gala

Fashion’s biggest night will go on without one of pop culture’s biggest stars. ET has learned that Taylor Swift will not attend this year’s Met Gala so that she can continue preparing for her Eras tour. 

The 2024 Met Gala will take place, as always, on the first Monday of May — this year, on May 6 — in New York City. The star-studded event — helmed by Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour — will feature the theme Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion as a nod to fashion history.  The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibition theme — curated and organized by The Costume Institute — will feature 250 items from its permanent collection displayed in a new, innovative way.

Wintour has served as co-chair of the Met Gala since 1995, the year Vogue‘s partnership with the Met Gala began. This year’s co-chairs also include Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya, Chris Hemsworth and Bad Bunny.

Meanwhile, Swift is gearing up to resume her blockbuster Eras Tour on Thursday, May 9, in Paris, France, after dropping her record-shattering album, The Tortured Poets Department, last week. 

Swift recently released a collection of new behind-the-scenes videos from what appears to be recent tour rehearsals. The black-and-white clips are set to her current single, “Fortnight” featuring Post Malone, as part of her ongoing #ForAFortnightChallenge on YouTube Shorts. 

Swifties wasted no time dissecting the images, taking note of what appears to be new props that could indicate the addition of TTPD songs to her already extensive setlist. 

In one shot, Swift appears to stand before a sign that looks quite similar to her TTPD logo. In another, her background dancers all wear top hats that have not been included in previous performances. 

Swift has attended the Met Gala a number of times since 2008. Most recently, she stunned in a futuristic Louis Vuitton look as she co-chaired the Manus x Machine: Fashion in an Age of Technology themed event in 2016. 

Before that, she had a princess moment in Oscar de la Renta for the 2014 Charles James: Beyond Fashion themed gala.

No word on whether Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce, plans to attend the high-profile event solo. The Kansas City Chiefs player — who recently extended his contract to become the NFL’s highest paid tight end — has never attended the Met Gala in the past. His teammate, Patrick Mahomes, did make an appearance last year along with his wife, Brittany Mahomes. 

In February, the Met Gala announced that this year’s dress code is The Garden of Time, which is inspired by J.G. Ballard’s 1962 short story of the same title. According to Vogue, “the most obvious interpretation would be to embrace the ‘garden’ part of ‘The Garden of Time.’ Think melancholic florals (as moody florals aren’t moody enough).”

Entertainment Tonight will be on the iconic Met Gala red carpet, so keep checking back with ETonline for more coverage from fashion’s biggest night, including all of the jaw-dropping red carpet looks.

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