- The Met Gala is one of the biggest fashion-focused events of the year.
- Although many celebrities enjoy the Met Gala, some have been outspoken about their dislike for it.
- Amy Schumer said the event “felt like punishment” in 2016, but went back again in 2017.
- Lena Dunham called it a “crazy countdown to escape” even though she would later return to the Met Gala a few more times.
- Visit INSIDER’s homepage for more stories.
If you love fashion and famous people, there’s a pretty good chance you wait every year to check out the celebrity-studded Met Gala, which is one of fashion’s most over-the-top spectacles all year long.
Held annually on the first Monday night in May, the Gala, known formally as the Costume Institute Gala, is not just an excuse for the most famous people in the world to wear really fancy outfits -it’s actually a fundraising gala for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, and if you want to attend, one ticket costs a reported $30,000.
Supermodels, musicians, and media darlings are all sure to secure a spot at the event, which has a theme each year, often resulting in some pretty wild celebrity moments.
Some celebs have attended the gala only to come out of it saying how unenjoyable the event can be.
Here are five stars who have made some major complaints about the gala.
Amy Schumer said the event "felt like punishment" in 2016, but went back again in 2017.
Although she's a famous comedian, it seems highly unlikely that you'll see Schumer in her designer best on that famous staircase. She went to her first Met Gala when her star was firmly on the rise back in 2016, but she did not have a good time.
Afterward, she told Howard Stern about her experience, saying, "I guess I should be grateful I was invited or something, but yeah, it felt like a punishment. It's not me and I don't like it … It's so fake … It's people doing an impression of having a conversation."
Adding insult to injury, she said, "I left not the second I could; I left earlier than I should've been allowed," she added.
However, the best part for Schumer was that she got to meet Beyoncé: "I got to meet Beyoncé and she was like, 'Is this your first Met?' and I was like, 'It's my last.'"
It seems she had a change of heart, because she was on hand for the 2017 Met Gala.
"I had fun I really did ... It's an intense environment ... I had fun inside," Schumer told E!, speaking about the 2017 Met Gala.
Demi Lovato said she felt awkward at the event.
Cameras spotted Lovato in a seemingly awkward photo op with Nicki Minaj and fashion designer Jeremy Scott in 2016. The "Confident" singer posted the hilarious yet cringeworthy photo to her Instagram page, spilling her version of what went down in her caption.
It seems the uncomfortable run-in with Minaj left Lovato less than enthused about the event as a whole. In 2018, she told Billboard, "I had a terrible experience," sharing that one celebrity, in particular, made her feel so uncomfortable, she nearly relapsed in her sobriety.
She said, "I changed my clothes, but I still had my diamonds on - millions of dollars of diamonds on in an AA meeting. And I related more to the homeless people in that meeting who struggled with the same struggles that I deal with than the people at the Met Gala...."
Gwyneth Paltrow said the event was "so un-fun" in 2013, but went back in 2017.
Paltrow has always been considered a fashion darling, but she also keeps it real about how "un-fun" such a prestigious event is.
In 2013, she reportedly went on a Met Gala rant to Australian radio hosts Kyle and Jackie O, telling them how much she hated it.
She said, "Do you want me to be honest? It sucked. It seems like the best thing in the world. You think, 'Oh my god, it's going to be so glamorous and amazing, and you're going to see all these famous people.' And then you get there, and it's so hot, and so crowded, and everyone's pushing you. This year it was really intense. It wasn't fun!'"
That same year, the Oscar winner also told USA Today that she was never going back, saying, "I'm never going again. It was so un-fun. It was boiling. It was too crowded. I did not enjoy it at all."
But she may have changed her mind considering she attended the 2017 festivities.
Tina Fey went in 2010 and called it a "jerk parade" in 2015.
The actress was in attendance at the 2010 Met Gala, but hasn't been back since … and it seems her invite might get mysteriously lost in the mail.
In 2015, in an interview with David Letterman, she called the soirée "such a jerk parade." She added, "Every jerk from every walk of life is there, wearing some stupid thing … It's just everybody, if you had a million arms, it's all the people you would punch in the whole world."
Lena Dunham called it a "crazy countdown to escape."
The "Girls" star caused a flurry of controversy after attending the 2016 glam fest.
In a now-deleted interview with Schumer on her Lenny Letter newsletter, the two actresses reportedly lamented about the over-the-top party, with Dunham saying, "You and I were literally sitting across from each other at the Met Ball, and it was like a crazy countdown to when we could escape. You were like, 'We're honored to be here. We're honored to be here.'"
Dunham also described what it was like to sit with NFL player Odell Beckham Jr., receiving a slew of backlash in the process. She said, "I was sitting next to Odell Beckham Jr., and it was so amazing because it was like he looked at me and he determined I was not the shape of a woman by his standards. He was like, 'That's a marshmallow. That's a child. That's a dog.' It wasn't mean - he just seemed confused."
She went on to describe the New York Giants wide receiver, criticizing him for not looking at her like he was interested in her, drawing ire from commenters online.
Dunham addressed the backlash on Twitter, clarifying her remarks about Beckham in a series of tweets, calling him "talented, stylish, seems super awesome and wasn't into chatting with me at a fancy party."
She attended the Met Gala in 2017 and 2018, despite her remarks.