Why Zendaya might miss Met Gala 2026 after years of standout looks — and the red carpet will feel it

There are red carpet absences, and then there are absences that just change your mood. Zendaya reportedly sitting out the 2026 Met Gala falls firmly into the second category. The gowns will still arrive, the cameras will still flash, and the staircase will still do its usual theatrical thing, but one of its most reliable headline-makers may be missing from the scene.

According to reports, including Glamour and Elle, suggest the actor is expected to skip this year’s Met Gala on May 4, choosing to step back from one of fashion’s most high-pressure nights.

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A packed calendar

Zendaya’s absence is more to do with bandwidth. Her schedule, according to reports from the outlets, is already filled to the brim. She is juggling The Drama with Robert Pattinson, the long-awaited third season of Euphoria, and back-to-back promotional cycles for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and the next Spider-Man film alongside Tom Holland.

At a certain point, even fashion’s most dependable headline generator needs a night off from being photographed at every possible angle.

The Met Gala and Zendaya

Somehow, Zendaya tends to tilt the conversation at the Met Gala, while she’s there. Her debut in 2015 already set the tone: A custom Fausto Puglisi dress with a bold sun motif for China: Through the Looking Glass, signalling early on that subtle was never going to be her default setting on fashion’s biggest stage.

By 2016, she was leaning fully into the future. For Manus x Machina, Zendaya arrived in a bronze, one-shoulder Michael Kors gown paired with a sharp mushroom-cut wig that felt equal parts sci-fi and style experiment.

Then came 2018, and arguably one of her most theatrical transformations yet. For Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination, she stepped out in a silver Atelier Versace gown designed like armour, complete with chain mail detailing. Finished with metallic Jimmy Choo heels and a cropped red bob inspired by Joan of Arc, the look clearly embodied the mood.

In 2019, Zendaya committed to her Disney-era destiny, then upgraded it for the Met Gala. With the theme 'Camp: Notes on Fashion,' she leaned all the way into theatrical excess, arriving in a custom blue Tommy Hilfiger gown that quite literally lit up as she moved.

But the moment didn’t stop at the dress. In a move that felt straight out of a fairytale, her stylist Law Roach appeared beside her dressed as her fairy godmother, wand and all.

Last year, she arrived in a sharp all-white Louis Vuitton suit, pared back.

When is the Met Gala 2026?

The Met Gala 2026 will take place on Monday, May 4, 2026, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Held every year on the first Monday of May, it has become one of the most fixed, and most watched, dates on the global fashion calendar.

Red carpet arrivals typically begin in the late afternoon New York time, followed shortly by the official livestream. For Met Gala 2026, the livestream is scheduled to start at 6 pm. ET on May 4, 2026.

UAE timing (GST)

For viewers in the UAE, that translates to a very early Tuesday morning start at 2:00 a.m. GST on May 5, 2026.

So yes, if you’re planning to watch it live, it’s either a late-night fashion marathon or a morning catch-up with coffee and couture on replay.