Meryl Streep Says No to Met Gala 2026—It Isn’t Her Scene
Hollywood’s A-list will storm the 2026 Met Gala, but Meryl Streep won’t: fresh off a whirlwind Devil Wears Prada 2 press tour, the Oscar icon is once again sitting out fashion’s biggest night — and has never attended.
Quick heads up for anyone refreshing their feed for Met Gala arrivals: if you were banking on a Meryl Streep moment this year, it is not happening. The 76-year-old just wrapped a marathon press tour for The Devil Wears Prada 2, and she is skipping Monday night at the Met.
Why Meryl is sitting this one out
Her rep put it plainly on Monday, May 4, ahead of the fundraiser at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is running with a 'Costume Art' theme and a 'Fashion is Art' dress code this year.
'Meryl has been invited to the Met Gala for many years but has never attended. While she appreciates Vogue, Anna Wintour, and her incredible imagination and stamina — it has never quite been her scene.'
Translation: she respects the spectacle, but she does not need the steps. Honestly, fair. Fans were excited to see how she might interpret this year’s theme, but if you wanted a real-life Miranda sweep up those stairs, sorry.
What she has been doing instead
The timing makes sense. The Devil Wears Prada 2 hit theaters on Friday, May 1, and Streep has been everywhere promoting it. She is back as Miranda Priestly — older, sharper, still running Runway magazine in New York City like it is her personal chessboard. The sequel picks up years after the 2006 original:
• Andrea (Anne Hathaway ) climbed the ladder as a newspaper columnist, gets abruptly laid off, and finds herself back in Miranda’s orbit.
• Nigel (Stanley Tucci) never left Runway.
• Emily (Emily Blunt) jumped to the other side of the business and is now designing.
The wonderfully ironic part
Even though Meryl is skipping the actual Met Gala, the movie gives you a big, unmistakable Met-adjacent set piece. There is a showstopper sequence where Miranda turns up in a saturated red taffeta gown: off-the-shoulder, with a sculptural 3D collar pitched over her left arm, a slim matching belt, a sweeping skirt, and a long, trailing train. Fun footnote: they shot that scene in August 2025 at the Museum of Natural History. So yes, she skipped the real gala but still delivered the fantasy version on screen.
The press tour looks (because she delivered there, too)
- Mexico City premiere in March: navy long-sleeved dress with a neat line of gold buttons down the front.
- Seoul, South Korea press conference and premiere in April: black bell-sleeved top that read like a cape draped over the right side, with matching black slacks.
- World premiere at Lincoln Center in NYC on April 20: tiger-printed fur coat over black slacks.
- Same day NYC photocall: red leather cape, black leather gloves, black pants, and Miranda’s signature black sunglasses.
- London premiere and press days: ivory shirt, red coat, black pants, and red satin heels — basically the movie poster palette brought to life.
- 'A Night With Runway' photocall in London on April 22: sparkly navy coat dress with black tights and the sunglasses back in rotation.
So no Met Gala cameo from Streep this time — or ever, apparently — but between the sequel opening May 1 and that lavish gala-style scene baked into the movie, Miranda Priestly still owned the week without setting foot on those steps.