New York City's Mayor Mamdani Announced Plans to Skip the 2026 Met Gala With Wife Rama Duwaji

For New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani is basically the people's princess, a la Princess Diana. As a Millennial, he appears in TikTok creators' videos, he speaks out on issues he promised to make good on, and he has that infectious smile that inspired a Saturday Night Live skit or two. So when he revealed he is skipping the Met Gala, an NYC institution, in 2026, it was a little surprising for some.

For others, the idea of Mamdani not showing up to an event mostly funded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos makes sense. Still, why is Mamdani skipping the Met Gala, and has he ever attended the event in the past? His wife, Rama Duwaji, will also be skipping the May 2026 event along with the mayor.

In an interview with Hell Gate, Mamdani quietly confirmed that he would be skipping the 2026 Met Gala. Until that point, it had been rumored that Mamdani and his wife would not be at the Met Gala. But, according to him, he has a pretty good reason for skipping the yearly event, and it's not about an aversion to the arts.

"I love the Met. I think that it's an incredible museum," he said. "I recently saw The Thomas Crown Affair, which, have you seen it? Incredible movie. I hadn't seen it before. And I think they're a critical part of the city. My focus is also on affordability and making the most expensive city in the United States affordable, and that's what I'm looking to spend a lot of my time focused on."

The day before the Hell Gate interview was released, Page Six reported that an unnamed source revealed Mamdani's plans to skip the event.

The source told the outlet, "It would be foolish if he did … Can you imagine? It goes against everything he believes in."

E! News reported that Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, were announced as honorary co-chairs of the 2026 Met Gala. The billionaire couple donated an unconfirmed amount of money to the event as sponsors.

Because the Met Gala is essentially a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the mayor is invited every year, per Page Six. But the sitting mayor's attendance is not mandatory in any way. And Mamdani is not the first NYC mayor to skip the event. According to the New York Post in 2023, then-Mayor Eric Adams opted not to attend the Met Gala, though he had the year previously.

Mamdani and Adams do seem to be the exceptions, but again, the mayor is not required to attend the Met Gala every year while they are in office. And, as Mamdani shared in his response about his reasons for not attending, it apparently has everything to do with his work for the city rather than a specific stance he is taking by not going.