Mayor Zohran Mamdani and First Lady Rama Duwaji have been invited to the Met Gala — but won’t be attending, sources tell Page Six.
New York City’s mayor is traditionally invited by the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the lavish event every year, but we’re told that Mamdani, 34, won’t be joining Condé Nast’s Anna Wintour and her coterie of celeb guests on Monday, May 4.
“He’s not coming,” said a source. “And it would be foolish if he did … can you imagine? It goes against everything he believes in.”
Indeed, the event is being financially subsidized by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos — currently the world’s third richest man — and his wife, Lauren Sánchez-Bezos, who have been named as lead donors and honorary co-chairs of the gala, which raises money for the Anna Wintour Costume Center at the Met.
Mamdani has said, “I don’t think that we should have billionaires.”
Despite this, a well-placed New York socialite told Page Six, “It’s such a New York institution. I think he should go. It’s a very New York moment.”
And NYC mayors have often attended the annual ball. Eric Adams turned up in 2022, his first year in office, with partner Tracey Collins, wearing a custom jacket by Laolu Senbanjo featuring NYC motifs and a “End Gun Violence” message.
Bill de Blasio attended in 2021, his final year in Gracie Mansion, wearing a tuxedo by Brooklyn designer Dreu Beckemberg to celebrate the post-pandemic return of the city’s fashion industry.
Mike Bloomberg was frequently a guest during his long tenure as mayor, from 2002 until 2013, and still goes to the ball every year with his daughter Georgina and his partner, Diana Taylor.
We have reached out to reps for Mamdani, the Met and Vogue.
Mamdani’s snub comes as Wintour recently praised his 28-year-old wife.
During an interview with Meryl Streep in Vogue, released last week, Wintour said: “I’m full of admiration for New York City’s new first lady because she looks so cool and wears a lot of vintage — young and modern and also entirely herself.”
Wintour seemingly ignored the fact that Duwaji, an illustrator, liked a social-media post that called the atrocity of Oct. 7 a “mass rape hoax” that was “fabricated” by the New York Times.
Old posts show Duwaji railed against US soldiers, praised a Palestinian terrorist, mourned the death of a Hamas propagandist — and dropped an N-bomb and a gay slur for good measure.
Far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez infamously flouted House ethics rules by accepting more than $3,700 in rented apparel and other gifts for her notorious appearance at the 2021 Met Gala — including a glitzy gown emblazoned with “Tax The Rich” in blood-red letters and a free ticket for her then-boyfriend Riley Roberts.
The House Ethics Committee faulted the congresswoman for not complying with its regulation on gifts, but said it wouldn’t sanction AOC further.
Meanwhile, although we’re told that Meryl Streep — who plays a character based on Wintour in the upcoming “The Devil Wears Prada 2” movie — will not be attending, her co-star Anne Hathaway will be there.
Page Six has already reported that “Weapons” star Julia Garner will be walking the red carpet, along with Alexa Chung, Gabrielle Union, Rebecca Hall, and the NBA’s Jimmy Butler.
This year’s theme is “Costume Art,” with a dress code of “Fashion is Art.”
The host committee includes Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams and Anna Wintour.
YSL designer Anthony Vaccarello and his muse Zoë Kravitz are also co-chairing the Gala Host Committee, which includes Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, Gwendoline Christie, Alex Consani, Misty Copeland, Elizabeth Debicki, Lena Dunham, Paloma Elsesser, LISA, new Vogue editor Chloe Malle, Sam Smith, Teyana Taylor, Lauren Wasser, Anna Weyant, A’ja Wilson and Yseult.
Read the full article here
