Bella Hadid Skipped the 2026 Met Gala for a Cause
The model seemingly confirmed her bold reason for skipping the starry event this year
Reported by Harper's Bazaar.
Bella Hadid has been quietly rebuilding her public life on her own terms — Texas ranch, equestrian training, her Orebella fragrance line — and when she finally does show up somewhere, it lands. The 2026 Met Gala was not one of those moments. Her last appearance on those carpeted steps was 2022, and this year, she made her absence feel intentional.
The tell came through a liked Instagram video. Creator Meredith Lynch posted a pointed critique of celebrities attending an event backed by honorary co-chairs Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos, calling out the contradiction of wearing an ICE Out pin to a Bezos-sponsored gala. "You cannot wear the ICE out pin to the Jeff Bezos-backed MET Gala," Lynch stated, adding that while the Met's charitable mission stands, the sponsorship from someone who bankrolled Trump — and whose influence has contributed to arts funding cuts — makes attendance a loaded choice. Hadid liked the video. So did Taraji P. Henson, who went further in the comments: "I am so confused by some ppl that are going. I am just like WTF ARE WE DOING!?!?!?!" According to Harper's Bazaar, Cara Delevingne also liked the post, though she attended regardless.
The Absences That Spoke Loudest
Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Zendaya, and Ariana Grande also skipped — none of them offered public explanations, which is its own kind of statement. What made Hadid's absence feel distinct was the rare clarity of a like doing the heavy lifting. No press release, no statement, no carefully worded Instagram caption. Just a signal, unmistakably deliberate.
Outside the Gala, Hadid's re-emergence has been quietly stunning. In January, she stopped the red carpet at the premiere of Ryan Murphy's The Beauty — in which she stars — wearing a watermelon-red halter gown from Schiaparelli Fall 2025 Couture that felt like a full comeback moment. In March, she surfaced at Vanity Fair's Oscars after-party in a silky off-white Prada top-and-skirt set that read as pure Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy minimalism, effortless and exact.
She doesn't need every room — and knowing which ones to skip is its own kind of power move.
Read the original at Harper's Bazaar.
