--- title: A Cockroach Almost Stole the Show at the Met Gala description: An unlikely star of the 2023 Met Gala red carpet was not a celebrity in a couture, but a cockroach that crawled on the scene canonical: https://time.com/6276314/met-gala-cockroach/ author: Mariah Espada article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-05-02T02:48:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T15:49:07.158Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: A Cockroach Almost Stole the Show at the Met Gala og:description: An unlikely star of the 2023 Met Gala red carpet was not a celebrity in a couture, but a cockroach og:url: https://time.com/6276314/met-gala-cockroach/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt384f02740ec300d4/698a3c744ee262053431b549/met-gala-2023-cockroach.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: met-gala-2023 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Cockroach Almost Stole the Show at the Met Gala twitter:description: An unlikely star of the 2023 Met Gala red carpet was not a celebrity in a couture, but a cockroach twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt384f02740ec300d4/698a3c744ee262053431b549/met-gala-2023-cockroach.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Cockroach Almost Stole the Show at the Met Gala  by [Mariah Espada](https://time.com/author/mariah-espada/)  ## Mariah Espada May 2, 2023 2:48 AM UTC  Photographers are seen at the Met Gala on May 1, 2023 Photographers are seen at the Met Gala on May 1, 2023Mike Coppola—Getty Images  by [Mariah Espada](https://time.com/author/mariah-espada/)  ## Mariah Espada May 2, 2023 2:48 AM UTC An unlikely star of the [2023 Met Gala red carpet](https://time.com/6276234/surprises-met-gala-2023/) was not a celebrity in couture. It was a cockroach that distracted the crowd patiently waiting for singer Rihanna’s arrival to the Upper East Side museum. _Variety_ first posted a video of the cockroach running up the steps as photographer Kevin Mazur took a close up shot on his camera. > [](https://twitter.com/Variety/status/1653211245137518592) They later reported that the cockroach had been stepped on. > [](https://twitter.com/Variety/status/1653220305379426304) Reactions online were swift. On Twitter, Philip Lewis [described](https://twitter.com/Phil%5FLewis%5F/status/1653212778226675713) the roach with Wendy Williams’ infamous words: “She is an icon, she is a legend, she is the moment.” > [](https://twitter.com/Phil%5FLewis%5F/status/1653212778226675713) Another [asked](https://twitter.com/marajrealm/status/1653212179326197760), “Did the cockroach pay the $50k?,” in reference to the pricey cost for a ticket to the annual event held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. > [](https://twitter.com/marajrealm/status/1653212179326197760) Thankfully, soon after, [Rihanna appeared](https://time.com/6276290/rihanna-met-gala-2023/) and restored order to the night’s festivities, bringing the crowd’s attention back to where it belonged. R.I.P. to a New York City legend that got its fleeting but glorious moment in the spotlight. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6276314/met-gala-cockroach/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6276314/met-gala-cockroach/"},"headline":"A Cockroach Almost Stole the Show at the Met Gala","datePublished":"2023-05-02T02:48:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T15:49:07.158Z","description":"An unlikely star of the 2023 Met Gala red carpet was not a celebrity in a couture, but a cockroach","url":"https://time.com/6276314/met-gala-cockroach/","keywords":["fashion","culturepod"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt384f02740ec300d4/698a3c744ee262053431b549/met-gala-2023-cockroach.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mariah Espada","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/mariah-espada/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt384f02740ec300d4/698a3c744ee262053431b549/met-gala-2023-cockroach.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"met-gala-2023","caption":"met-gala-2023","creditText":"Mike Coppola—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":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/fashion/","name":"fashion"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6276314/met-gala-cockroach/","name":"A Cockroach Almost Stole the Show at the Met Gala"}}]}] ```