--- title: Why Rihanna Wasn't at the 2019 Camp Themed 2019 Met Gala description: Here's Rihanna's response to the burning question everyone is asking: why wasn't she at the 2019, camp-themed Met Gala? canonical: https://time.com/5578361/why-wasnt-rihanna-at-met-gala-2019/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-05-07T17:42:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:46:07.593Z og:title: Rihanna Reveals Why She Wasn't at the 2019 Met Gala og:description: Here's what you need to know og:url: https://time.com/5578361/why-wasnt-rihanna-at-met-gala-2019/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8d6019108ba4510/6989490d09208f5fa0413be4/rihanna-met-gala-2019.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: "Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art Of The In-Between" Costume Institute Gala - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rihanna Reveals Why She Wasn't at the 2019 Met Gala twitter:description: Here's what you need to know twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8d6019108ba4510/6989490d09208f5fa0413be4/rihanna-met-gala-2019.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Rihanna Answers the Internet's Burning Questions About Her 2019 Met Gala Absence > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=f773b036-9b2c-40f6-bd47-e951e2900fba&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang May 7, 2019 5:42 PM UTC  NEW YORK, NY - MAY 01: Rihanna attends the "Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art Of The In-Between" Costume Institute Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 1, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images) NEW YORK, NY - MAY 01: Rihanna attends the "Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art Of The In-Between" Costume Institute Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 1, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images) Neilson Barnard—Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang May 7, 2019 5:42 PM UTC It is a truth universally acknowledged that no one bodies a Met Gala look quite like [Robyn Rihanna Fenty](http://time.com/5026366/rihanna-fenty-beauty-best-inventions-2017/), the baddest to ever walk the stairs of the storied museum. Which is why many were puzzled about Ri’s absence from the camp-themed [2019 Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual Costume Institute Benefit](http://time.com/5420012/met-gala-2019/), where her presence was sorely missed on Monday night. While the bad gal did not issue an official statement about skipping the Met Gala, she did confirm a fan’s speculation that she was at home, playing with her wildly popular Fenty Beauty that night, via an Instagram stories post on her personal account that showed a shot of the makeup and the caption, “met ball 2019” plus some the shrugging emoji. That’s not to say that Rihanna wasn’t keeping up with the 2019 Met Gala red carpet in spirit — in her absence, she crowned Anna Wintour, who arrived on the event’s red carpet in a feathered Chanel look, the best dressed of the night. And although Rihanna may not have been physically present at this year’s gala, it’s worth remembering that all her past Met Gala appearances keep her firmly rooted as the undefeated champion, and for all intensive purposes, the GOAT, of Met Gala looks — a fairly tall order considering that the Met Gala is considered fashion’s biggest night. With her reign as the GOAT of the Met Gala still unchallenged despite some spectacular displays at this year’s event, here’s a look at Rihanna’s best Met Gala fashion moments.  Rihanna Getty Images (2)  Rihanna attends the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 7, 2018 in New York City. Jason Kempin/Getty Images > [](https://twitter.com/RachelEffendy/status/859209074533126144) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5578361/why-wasnt-rihanna-at-met-gala-2019/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5578361/why-wasnt-rihanna-at-met-gala-2019/"},"headline":"Rihanna Answers the Internet's Burning Questions About Her 2019 Met Gala Absence","datePublished":"2019-05-07T17:42:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:46:07.593Z","description":"Here's what you need to know","url":"https://time.com/5578361/why-wasnt-rihanna-at-met-gala-2019/","keywords":["Newsfeed","fashion","onetime","Met Gala 2019"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8d6019108ba4510/6989490d09208f5fa0413be4/rihanna-met-gala-2019.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8d6019108ba4510/6989490d09208f5fa0413be4/rihanna-met-gala-2019.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"\"Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art Of The In-Between\" Costume Institute Gala - Arrivals","caption":"\"Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art Of The In-Between\" Costume Institute Gala - Arrivals","creditText":"Neilson Barnard—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5578361/why-wasnt-rihanna-at-met-gala-2019/","name":"Rihanna Answers the Internet's Burning Questions About Her 2019 Met Gala Absence"}}]}] ```