On Monday (March 16), The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced that the buzziest fashion-society-politics-celebrity night of the year, the annual Met Gala, had been postponed indefinitely.
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Known affectionately as ‘The First Monday in May’, the May 4 gathering was reconsidered in order to avoid gatherings of 50 people or more – as per health guidance provided by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
In an internal email sent to Met staffers, it was announced that “in deference to this guidance, all programs and events through May 15 will be cancelled or postponed,” including the gala. According to The New York Times, a spokesperson for the museum has confirmed that no new date or further plans for the star-studded fund-raising party have been discussed.
The news has come as a shock to many admirers of the event, which has been viewed for some time as the biggest night in fashion. Just last week, the chief external relations officer of the Costume Institute, Nancy Chilton, told The Cut that the Met Gala would still go ahead, despite several other events, such as Coachella, being postponed.
“We are proceeding as planned and look forward to a wonderful evening,” Chilton said.
The museum on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan — plus its two other locations, the Met Breuer and the Met Cloisters — initially closed to all visitors on March 13, in line with guidance from the New York mayor’s office. The museum did not announce a reopening date.
