Rihanna, the undisputed queen of the Met Gala, had to drop out this year at the last minute
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- Rihanna had to drop out of the Met Gala at the last minute on Monday night.
- Her representative confirmed to E! News that she had the flu.
- Rihanna has become the undisputed queen of Met Gala for her showstopping looks over the years.
There was one major figure missing from the Met Gala.
Rihanna — who has been the undisputed queen of the first Monday in May since she walked up the iconic Met steps in that 55-pound Guo Pei gown — dropped out at the last minute.
Rihanna's representative confirmed to E! News that she had come down with the flu and was unable to attend.
The Fenty beauty mogul told British Vogue in an April interview that she was planning to wear something from her own brand on fashion's biggest night.
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"I'm gonna wear Fenty something! Fenty Beauty, Fenty Skin, Fenty Savage," she said.
And Rihanna made it clear that her famous naked dress days were over.
"I've done so much shit in my life. I've had my nipples out, my panties out," she told the magazine. "But now, those are the things which, I guess as a mom and an evolved young lady — emphasis on young — there are things I feel like I would never do. Like, 'Oh my God, I really did that? Nips out?'"
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Rihanna — who shares sons RZA and Riot with rapper A$AP Rocky — also told E! News that month that she wasn't planning an elaborate look for the 2024 Met Gala.
"I'm a mom," she said. "I don't got time for a lot of shit."
Fans were surely hoping that Rihanna would be making another fashionably late entrance to the Met Gala when she didn't appear on Monday night.
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She shut down the red carpet at last year's event, wearing a custom white Valentino Haute Couture gown with a matching hooded coat covered in flowers.
Rihanna was also the last celebrity to arrive at the 2021 Met Gala, rocking up in black couture Balenciaga coatdress.