Met Gala ticket price increase to $50,000 may cause celebrities to opt-out

Ticket prices for the Met Gala are going up this year, and insiders are claiming that they’ve increased from $30,000 to $50,000.

The 20k jump is now reportedly causing a number of celebrities to opt out of this year’s event on May 1 called ‘Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty’ and hosted by Vogue editor, Anna Wintour.

The price increase and strict theme may cause many to opt out of the 2023 Met Gala

“These people are already donating so much, to then ask for that amount is a lot,” a source told Page Six on Friday.

But another source said, “For every person that decides not to go, 20 people will line up behind them and beg to come.”

With an event dedicated to the work of the late German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld and hosted by Vogue editor Anna Wintour, the people who line up may not be up to standard.

“Will Anna want those people? Maybe, maybe not,” the source added.

Many designers are reportedly also choosing to skip the event due to the restrictions of the theme, with its focus on Karl Lagerfeld, compared to previous themes such as ‘Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination’, ‘Camp: Notes on Fashion’, and ‘Punk: Chaos to Couture’, which allowed more room for creativity.

Karl Lagerfeld designed for Balmain, Patou, Chloé, and Fendi, but it’s his work at Chanel that he is most remembered for.

“Chanel themes are so iconic,” one of the sources notes. “Other brands have their own identity. What are they going to do?”

Interjecting, another source said that in reality, designers are not that concerned and that they can easily put together “something black and white and sparkly”.

The source underlines an important point: Invitations for designers to the Met Gala are conditional on their acceptance.

“If you miss one, you might not be invited back,” they said.

Who will be at the Met Gala 2023?

With Wintour at the helm of this year’s Met Gala, her invitation list is sure to be intentional and consist of who she thinks will best represent the theme.

Sources previously said that the editor was slimming down the invitees to the gala, with the Kardashians reportedly not making the cut.

The move could be in response to previous criticism that the gala was inviting “lower tier” celebrities, such as influencers and reality stars, like the Kardashians.

2022 was the only year that every member of the reality show family attended the gala.