NOT THIS TIME

Major A-List Stars Snub Jeff Bezos-Backed Met Gala

Zendaya joined Meryl Streep as the latest celebrity to reveal they will not be in attendance this year.

Emmy-winning actor Zendaya will not attend the 2026 Met Gala, the first to be sponsored by Trump-friendly billionaire Jeff Bezos and his wife Lauren Sánchez, according to a report in Elle. And she’s not the only A-lister to decline.

The news about Zendaya skipping the event comes amid rumors of a feud with her MAGA-coded Euphoria co-star Sydney Sweeney. In addition, The Daily Mail on Wednesday reported that Oscar winner Meryl Streep, fresh off the premiere of The Devil Wears Prada 2, turned down a co-chair invitation due to the Bezos’ involvement.

The Daily Beast has reached out to representatives for Streep and Zendaya for comment.

Streep, who reprises her role as the Anna Wintour-coded character Miranda Priestly in the new film, has never attended the Gala. Her representative told Page Six, “Meryl has been invited to the Met Gala for many years but has never attended. While she appreciates Vogue, Anna, and her incredible imagination and stamina, it has never quite been her scene.”

Streep’s The Devil Wears Prada 2 co-stars Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci will reportedly attend, as will Streep’s daughters, according to the site, which also reports that several designers and socialites have opted out in protest at the Amazon founders’ coziness with the Trumps.

As for Zendaya, Elle reports that the actor will miss the event to take a break from the spotlight. She’s had a busy year, during which she wrapped two big press tours for The Drama and Euphoria’s Season 3, and has also begun promoting upcoming projects The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the latter of which unites her with her partner and rumored husband, Tom Holland.

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Zendaya has attended the Met Gala seven times, appearing at each between 2015 and 2019, and then again in 2024 through 2025. In 2024, she served as a co-chair. The actor, often hailed as a fashion icon, is frequently listed as one to watch for at the event. The report of her absence this year comes after the Euphoria press tour was plagued by rumors of a falling out with her MAGA-darling co-star, Sydney Sweeney.

Sweeney, an associate of Bezos who invested in her lingerie company and met her now-boyfriend at his and Sanchez’s wedding, became a MAGA favorite following internet backlash over her American Eagle jeans campaign, which some observers interpreted as promoting eugenics because they celebrated the blue-eyed blonde’s great “jeans.”

Sweeney was a top story on Fox News during the Epstein scandal, as the network’s pundits defended her from the “woke mob.” Donald Trump, JD Vance, and more MAGA officials weighed in, with Trump calling Sweeney the “hottest” after her voting registration was revealed to be Republican.

Sweeney and Zendaya sparked rumors of a falling-out over Sweeney’s suspected political views when they were not photographed together on their hit show’s press tour, despite both stars steering clear of politics publicly. Their fellow Season 3 castmate, Jessica Blair Herman, insisted in comments on Good Day New York that the actors got along just fine during filming, however.

The event is still expected to be a star-studded occasion, despite ongoing calls from activists to boycott it, with Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour serving as co-chairs. In response to backlash to the Bezos’ sponsorship this year, Wintour told CNN that Sanchez will be “a wonderful asset to the museum and to the event.”

“She’s a great lover of costume and obviously of fashion, so we’re thrilled she’s part of the night,” she said, adding that she was grateful for the couple’s “incredible generosity.”

The Gala will take place on May 4 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

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Eboni Boykin-PattersonEntertainment Reporter

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