The stars skipped out on fashion’s biggest night — here’s why!
The appearance would have marked Kelce’s Met Gala debut and Swift’s first since 2016, prior to which she was a mainstay at the annual event
In April, a source told PEOPLE the couple is “making the most of their time off together” following the NFL season and end of the Eras Tour
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce did not attend the Met Gala this year for a very simple reason.
The Met Gala vet, 35, and her NFL star beau, also 35, did receive an invitation to fashion’s biggest night this year, but they had to decline due to their respective schedules, sources told TMZ.
Swift and Kelce, who began dating in 2023, have both been enjoying some downtime following the end of the NFL season and the singer’s Eras Tour.
“They have been traveling nonstop and very much enjoy it,” a source told PEOPLE in April. “They are making the most of their time off together. They are hanging out with friends, too. It’s a special time for them.”
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The insider also said that the stars are “very serious and in sync,” adding: “They value the same things. Right now, the focus is very much on private time out of the spotlight.”
Had Kelce attended the May 5 event — and taken his signature style from the locker room to the iconic steps of the Met — it would have been his first-ever appearance at the prestigious New York City event.
Swift, meanwhile, has attended the Met Gala several times, but the last was over a decade ago, when she was a co-chair at the “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology”-themed 2016 gala.
The “Karma” singer — who also skipped last year’s gala due to her busy schedule — made her Met Gala debut in 2008. She has since attended the star-studded event five more times, becoming a mainstay (and must-see!) at the gala until her last appearance in 2016.
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In 2008 and 2010, the Grammy winner made the very visible jump from her Fearless era to her Speak Now era, rocking a shimmering gold Badgley Mischka gown for her debut, and a white Ralph Lauren Collection gown with a bright red lip for her second appearance two years later.
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She went on to rock several more memorable looks, from her J. Mendel gown and sultry glam at 2011’s “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty”-themed gala, to her silky, pink Oscar de la Renta gown in 2014.
The star’s most recent — and most polarizing — look came at the 2016 gala, when she debuted her lightest hair to date in a metallic Louis Vuitton mini dress and ultra-dark lip, setting the tone for her Reputation era to come.
Co-chaired by Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, Pharrell Williams and Anna Wintour, plus LeBron James as honorary chair, this year’s Met Gala spotlights the Met’s spring 2025 exhibition, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” which doubles as the theme. The dress code was “Tailored for You,” a nod to the exhibition’s focus on menswear and suiting.
Curator in Charge Andrew Bolton said that the exhibition — which is inspired by guest curator Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity — explores “the Black dandy as both a concept and an identity signifier.”
It “presents a cultural and historical examination of Black style from the 18th century to the present through an exploration of the concept of dandyism,” per the museum’s Instagram.
