Billy Porter won't be striking a pose at the 2026 Met Gala, despite his reputation for being a fashion icon on the red carpet. The Emmy winner revealed that he won't be attending the biggest night in fashion because he hasn't been invited since 2019. "I haven't been invited back since 2019," Billy said during an April 22 appearance on SiriusXM's Bevelations. "That's the only time I've ever gone and the only time I've ever been invited, and I was invited by Ryan Murphy that year."
Although the Pose actor hasn't been on the guest list in the seven years since, he noted his absence was especially poignant at last year's event, which featured the "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" theme. "Last year was all about Black dandyism, and I wasn't invited," the 56-year-old continued. "The reality is, when people ask me, you need to know that I wasn't invited and I don't go to places where I'm not welcome."
However, Billy emphasized that he is "all good" and has done the inner work to avoid being disheartened by his exclusion. "I've earned the invitation, and it's OK that I don't have it because there's a level that I've reached that doesn't require validation from the outside," the Tony winner shared. "So, I'm going to sit and live in that because it helps keep me sane too."
Ahead of the 2024 Met Gala, Billy revealed that he would be sitting out on the first Monday in May in the wake of his mom's death. "I just lost my mom," he told E! News a week before the event. "I have to take care of myself, so I'm doing that. And that means not going to the party sometimes." Quipping that "daddy's tired," he added, "I can't do everything."
At the 2019 event, whose "Camp: Notes on Fashion" theme inspired many over-the-top looks, Billy dressed as an Egyptian god in an all-gold outfit complete with wings and a chain headdress. He also arrived on the carpet on a cushioned platform carried by six shirtless men in matching gold pants. "Ryan Murphy said I should do all five looks from Diana Ross in Mahogany," he told The Hollywood Reporter that year. "I thought that sounded like too much work, but out of that came the idea to do Egyptian." Praising the event's theme, Billy added, "Camp is the art of being extra in its finest and highest form. I'm glad we get to reclaim that word and make it a positive again, because it's been a negative and a pejorative for too long."
