Embarrassing missing factor from Met Gala 2026 that left stars red-faced and alone on the red carpet

They usually have no problem packing on the PDA – but when it came time to walk the Met Gala red carpet, stars including Harry Styles, Timothée Chalamet and Justin Trudeau failed to show up to support their famous partners. 

Styles’s fiancée, Zoë Kravitz, cut a forlorn figure as she arrived alone at Monday night’s glitzy event, despite the fact her engagement to the former One Direction heartthrob was announced just last week. 

Meanwhile, Chalamet’s girlfriend Kylie Jenner went solo at the Met Gala for the second year in a row, as the Marty Supreme star ditched her in favor of watching a Knicks game at nearby Madison Square Garden. 

Trudeau, who is usually draped all over his pop-star lover Katy Perry, was also a no-show. 

It’s unclear why the former Canadian prime minister didn’t appear at the event. Trudeau – who divorced the mother of his three children in 2023 — has been accused of having a ‘midlife crisis’ due to his recent cozy displays with Perry on board a yacht and at Coachella.  

Other stars in the embarrassing position of arriving alone at the Gala included Kim Kardashian, Hailey Bieber, Gigi Hadid, Vittoria Ceretti.

Even Blake Lively was left to walk the red carpet without her usually-supportive spouse Ryan Reynolds – just hours after she settled her long-running legal battle with Justin Baldoni.

Fans of Kravitz and Styles wondered whether the pair would make a splash with a joint appearance at the Met Gala, given their engagement was headline news less than a week ago. 

Instead, they sent an odd message with Kravitz going solo and without her diamond engagement ring. It’s unclear if Styles had other plans he couldn’t change for the Met Gala.

Meanwhile, Chalamet was derided as a bad boyfriend for choosing a sports game over supporting his longtime love Jenner.  

His lack of presence was a stark contrast to the loved-up displays Jenner put on with him as she supported him on red carpets throughout awards season as part of his doomed campaign to win best actor at the Oscars for Marty Supreme.

Jenner wasn’t the only member of the Kardashian–Jenner Clan to walk without her partner.

Her older sister, Kim Kardashian, stunned in a hardshell metallic orange bodysuit with a matching brown-and-orange leather skirt, but her boyfriend, Lewis Hamilton, was nowhere to be seen.

Hamilton may have had an excuse, as the esteemed Formula One racing driver had been down in Florida to compete in the Formula One Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix.

The final race – in which Hamilton placed sixth – only wrapped up on Sunday and may not have given him much time to prepare for the Met Gala.

Jenner’s longtime friend Hailey Bieber was also missing her husband Justin on the red carpet.

She glowed in a gold breastplate that she paired with an elegant blue skirt, but the pop superstar was missing in action.

However, it’s not unusual for Justin to miss a red carpet event that his wife is walking at.

Some charitable fans have theorized that he may not want to steal Hailey’s spotlight, and others have lambasted him in the past for distracting from her pristine looks with his unkempt streetwear style.

Ryan Reynolds has supported his wife Blake Lively in recent months as she waged a legal battle against her former It Ends With Us director and costar Justin Baldoni.

Baldoni had denied Lively’s initial claims that he had sexually harassed her, and a judge later struck down 10 of her 13 claims, including the harassment allegations.

However, her claims of retaliation from Baldoni’s production studio Wayfarer and the film’s production company, aiding and abetting in retaliation — which was directed at a PR firm Baldoni hired — and breach of contract against the production company all survived, allowing the lawsuit to continue.

But just hours before she was set to arrive at the Met Gala, the Daily Mail reported that Lively had settled her lawsuit with Baldoni’s production company, allowing them to avoid a high-profile trial set to kick off on May 18. The terms of the settlement were not announced.

Reynolds was absent for what could have been a triumphant moment with his wife, though Lively still seemed to luxuriate in her triumph while wearing a gown with a sequined halter top and a voluminous multicolored skirt that piled up behind her like a mass of sheets.

It’s unclear if it was always planned for Reynolds to sit out the red carpet, but the moment left the spotlight on his wife in her moment of triumph.

The model Vittoria Ceretti is likely used to walking red carpets without her A-list boyfriend, Leonardo DiCaprio, as he’s famous for avoiding public spectacles and disguising himself by wearing masks and baseball caps cocked so low that they nearly cover his eyes

The two put on a rare loved-up display in public when they attended the 2026 Academy Awards together, where DiCaprio was nominated for his work in the eventual best picture winner, One Battle After Another.

But after that departure, things were back to normal as Ceretti walked the red carpet alone while DiCaprio was absent. 

Gigi Hadid was on her own on the red carpet, but she at least had support the rest of the evening from her boyfriend, Bradley Cooper.

The actor and filmmaker left Hadid to represent herself on the Met’s steps, but he rejoined her later in the evening for the gala. 

Despite the raft of A-list women who were left to attend the Met Gala alone, there were still some notable couples in force at the event, including Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster.

The lovebirds sweetly held hands while showing off elegant, refined looks.

A$AP Rocky also continued his longstanding tradition of public supporting his partner Rihanna, with whom he shares three young children. 

Leading the charge at the Met Gala this year was a powerhouse trio of co-chairs, with Beyonce, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams joining forces with Vogue’s global editorial director Anna Wintour to oversee fashion’s biggest night.