Inside the Met Gala: A fairytale forest, woodland creatures, and some starstuck first-timers

NEW YORK (AP) — Sauntering through the hallways of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the way to cocktails, James Corden spread his arms out comically, like he owned the place. “Let me know if you want me to talk you through any of this,” he said, pointing to the precious art on the walls, joking around with Jeff Bezos and his partner Lauren Sánchez, who happened to be walking behind him.

It was all in fun, but Corden, like many celebrities, is a Met Gala regular.

Then there are the first-timers. These guests, no matter how famous in their field, often profess a bit of starstruck wonder at the concentration of celebrity around them, and even some nerves, like a kid arriving at a new school.

For example: Stray Kids. The K-pop band arrived at their first gala en masse, all eight dressed by designer Tommy Hilfiger in different iterations of red, navy and white. Entering the museum they ascended the grand interior staircase, hit the receiving line, and then headed to cocktails, where, they said, they slowly started to relax.

“We were nervous at first.” said band number Bang Chan. “We didn’t know what to expect, who we would meet,” added bandmate Felix. But they were settling in nicely, and had already spoken to Chris Hemsworth, Steven Yeun and Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons.

Then there was Ayo Edebiri, star of “The Bear,” who has been a multiple winner on the awards circuit this year but was attending her first gala. She seemed almost out of breath after greeting hosts Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, Hemsworth and Vogue's Anna Wintour, who was overseeing the whole affair as always, at the top of the stairs.

“I’m really, really, really excited to be here,” she said. “This is another really beautiful thing that I will try to do my best to remember.” Dressed in a lacy floral gown by Loewe, one of the evening's sponsors along with TikTok, Edebiri headed off to cocktails in the airy Charles Engelhard Court in the museum's American wing.

What with the usual commotion outside on the carpet, guests were initially slow to trickle in, leaving the receiving line with little to do in the early moments (Lopez and Bad Bunny snapped a few joint selfies.)

Among the early birds were Australian director Baz Luhrmann and his wife, costume designer Catherine Martin, who served as creative advisers for the evening. They both spoke passionately about the gala's function as a fundraiser for the Costume Institute and its benefit to the museum overall — not to mention the potential of drawing young people around the globe, who Luhrmann noted were watching the carpet online, to the arts. Met officials said Tuesday the evening had raised more than $26 million, a record and an enormous sum for a fundraiser.

Some other memorable moments and scenes from inside the gala:

Though the name of the party's accompanying exhibit was “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” it wasn't really about Princess Aurora from our fairytales. Rather, it was about highlighting and illuminating fragile garments from the museum’s collection that were now being “awakened” to the world. Still, it’s safe to say the museum went all in on the fairytale vibe.

Entering the Great Hall, guests passed a huge centerpiece, 32 feet tall, representing a “whimsical tree.” Huge green flowers made of fabric sprouted over a forest-like undergrowth with twisted branches that looked just like the foliage Sleeping Beauty’s prince had to hack through to give her a true love's kiss. Guests then walked through a live string orchestra and a tableau of performers dressed as woodland creatures — in tunics and tights — frolicking in the forest.

Given the choice of viewing the exhibit or heading straight to cocktails, most guests chose the latter. But some did head to the show, a multi-sensory fashion experience involving not only sight but sound, smell and touch. Lena Waithe spent time alone inspecting the garments, and said she was “just blown away by the work that I’m seeing.”

The actor/producer added that she, as many, often thinks of fashion as fun and light. “But then I come here and am reminded that it’s an art form,” she said. And she recalled a speech Meryl Streep, as a Wintour-like character, makes to Anne Hathaway in “The Devil Wears Prada," about the clothes we wear having been chosen for us. “I think we need to be reminded of that, that our style is influenced by people who are long gone,” Waithe said.

Late-night host Meyers, attending the gala with wife, said it was a nice break to get an evening away from childcare. But he also jokingly asked why his little ones — ages 8, 6 and 2 — weren’t invited. “I think it’s very rude that Vogue didn't invite them,” Meyers quipped. “It's so kid-friendly here. And they're so good at keeping their mitts off things.”

Meyers said what he most enjoyed abut the gala was seeing “a lot of people that I'm a fan of, or have interviewed on the show.” But as for fashion, he likes to play it straight, he said: ”Nobody wants a guy like me taking a big swing. I stay in my lane."

There’s always a strong Broadway contingent at the Met Gala, because Wintour is a huge theater fan. At this gala, Jonathan Groff, fresh off a Tony nomination for “Merrily We Roll Along,” laughed and joked with good friend and fellow “Glee” alum (and “Funny Girl" star) Lea Michele, expecting her second child and resplendent in baby blue Rodarte. Groff reminisced about former Met Galas he’s attended, including one where he performed from the show “Hair,” and another in 2016 where guest Beyoncé had just released “Lemonade” about a week earlier. “That," he recalled, “was epic.”

A table away sat another Broadway star, J. Harrison Ghee. Last year Ghee attended their first gala, a month or so before winning the Tony for best actor in “Some Like it Hot.” Ghee wore a dramatic feathered look by designer Howie B inspired, they said, by a caddis worm — perfectly in sync with the nature theme of the evening. The night, Ghee said, was proof that fashion was a vital and expressive art. And they added; “Little me would be so happy. I check in with them all the time — would they be proud? They would.”

As Sánchez and Bezos toured the exhibit, her distinctive dress made an equally distinctive noise as it scraped across the floor. “We won’t lose you,” joked Bezos. Sánchez said she had burst into tears when she first tried on the eye-popping design by Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim of Oscar de la Renta. The voluminous skirt had pearl and mirrored appliques and was meant to evoke Tiffany glass. “If you need a mirror just use my dress,” Sánchez quipped. She added that she felt the dress symbolized life — where everything is a bit broken, and it depends on what you do with the pieces. And she was misty-eyed when she described trying the dress on for Bezos: "He told me I had never looked so beautiful,” she said.

Fun fact: Sánchez said Garcia had told her he needed an item to fix the dress, and had ordered it on Amazon.

How do you get hundreds of chatting celebrities to hike across the museum for dinner? Organizers have tried a number of ways. One year, it was a team of buglers. Another year, Jon Batiste and his melodica led a band snaking through the crowd. Last year, David Byrne did the honors. On Monday it was a huge choir that emerged, singing original music entitled “Future of Us," accompanied by dancers. Then a bell rang, and the performers called out: “To dinner!” And off the crowd went — slowly — to the Temple of Dendur, where the fairytale motif continued with tables featuring “enchanted candelabras entwined with flower arrangements.”

Arriving late is still fashionable; Some guests were still arriving at 9 p.m. and even much later. But for those who made it for dinnertime, here’s what was on the menu: a main course of filet of beef, pea tortellini, morels and spring vegetables, followed by a dessert of petits fours inspired by the Brothers Grimm fairytale of, yep, “Sleeping Beauty” — along with confections “in the shape of bespoke hats."

Baz Luhrmann, left, and Catherine Martin attend The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" exhibition on Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Cardi B attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" exhibition on Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Cardi B attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" exhibition on Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Jonathan Simkhai, left, and Taraji P. Henson attend The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" exhibition on Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Alexi Ashe, left, and Seth Meyers attend The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" exhibition on Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

J. Harrison Ghee attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" exhibition on Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Lena Waithe attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" exhibition on Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Ayo Edebiri attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" exhibition on Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Ayo Edebiri attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" exhibition on Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Lauren Sanchez attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" exhibition on Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Lauren Sanchez attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" exhibition on Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Chris Hemsworth attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" exhibition on Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Jennifer Lopez attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" exhibition on Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Zendaya attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" exhibition on Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Lea Michele attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" exhibition on Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Serena Williams attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" exhibition on Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Zendaya attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" exhibition on Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

James Corden, left, and Julia Carey attend The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" exhibition on Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Cynthia Erivo, left, and Ariana Grande attend The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" exhibition on Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Musicals group Stray Kids attend The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" exhibition on Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Harris Reed, left, and Demi Moore attend The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" exhibition on Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

ATLANTA (AP) — President Joe Biden is delivering the commencement address at Morehouse College on Sunday, a key opportunity for an election-year appearance before a Black audience but one that also could directly expose him to the anger that some of these and other students across the country have been expressing over his staunch support for Israel in its war against Hamas militants in Gaza.

The White House hinted that Biden would reference the concerns of students and faculty at the male-only, historically Black college over his approach to the war. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “stay tuned,” when asked if the Democratic president would address the worries that sparked weeks of student protests on college campuses nationwide.

Nearly all the streets around the campus were shut down for the event. As the packed crowd gathered just before graduates began filing into the quad, Associate Provost Mel Foster warned: “Although we respect everyone’s right to free speech, Morehouse College has issued guidelines to ensure we are in line with the law."

The speech, and a separate one Biden is giving later Sunday in the Midwest, is part of a burst of outreach to Black constituents by the president, who has watched his support among these voters soften since their strong backing helped put him in the Oval Office in 2020.

After speaking at Morehouse in Atlanta, Biden will travel to Detroit to address an NAACP dinner.

Georgia and Michigan are among a handful of states that will help decide November's expected rematch between Biden and Republican former President Donald Trump. Biden narrowly won Georgia and Michigan in 2020 and needs to repeat — with a boost from strong Black voter turnout in both cities.

Jean-Pierre said Biden has been looking forward to the Morehouse speech, as he does all of his commencement addresses. He has been writing the remarks himself, along with senior advisers, she said.

“When it comes to this difficult moment in time that we're in as we speak about the protests, he understands that there's a lot of pain,” Jean-Pierre said. “He understands that people have a lot of opinions and he respects that folks have a lot of opinions.”

Biden spent part of Saturday warming up for the big speech. He was greeted at Atlanta's airport by a group of past Morehouse graduates and playfully draped an arm around the shoulder of one. He later stopped at Mary Mac's Tea Room, a Black-owned restaurant that opened nearly 80 years ago, to briefly address about 50 supporters. A 2024 Morehouse graduate introduced him.

The president joked about being surrounded by “Morehouse Men."

Biden spent the back end of the past week reaching out to Black constituents. He met with plaintiffs and relatives of those involved in Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision that outlawed racial segregation in public schools. He also met with members of the “Divine Nine” Black fraternities and sororities and spoke with members of the Little Rock Nine, who helped integrate a public school in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957.

Morehouse's announcement that Biden would be the commencement speaker drew some backlash among the school’s faculty and supporters who oppose Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. Some Morehouse alumni circulated an online letter condemning school administrators for inviting Biden and soliciting signatures to pressure Morehouse President David Thomas to rescind it.

The letter claimed that Biden’s approach to Israel amounted to support of genocide in Gaza and was out of step with the pacifism expressed by Martin Luther King Jr., Morehouse's most famous graduate.

The Hamas Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel killed 1,200 people. Israel's offensive has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health officials.

In an extended interview with The Associated Press, Thomas sought to play down the prospect of students protesting during the ceremony. He held up the all-male campus as a place that, like other historically Black colleges and universities, can balance social justice and political activism with a sense of order and decorum befitting commencement and a presidential address.

“I think you will find on a spectrum that we represent both ends – those who are vehemently opposed to the president coming to speak and those at the other end who think it’s a great thing ... and who don’t see a contradiction between their feelings about what’s going on in Gaza and the president coming,” he said.

But some students at Morehouse and the adjacent campuses that make up the Atlanta University Center (AUC) remain staunchly opposed to Biden’s appearance. They accuse Thomas and Morehouse trustees of prioritizing status and establishment political alliances over the values the school espouses.

AUC students, faculty and alumni held a rally and die-in against Biden on Friday.

“If our illustrious HBCUs and administrators really loved the activism they claimed to be for and use as a marketing tool then they would ... stand with us as we pray to God, ‘From the West End to the West Bank,’” said Morehouse junior Lonnie White of Atlanta, among the students who participated in two AUC demonstrations in recent weeks.

Student protest leaders said they know of no organized protest plans within the commencement site itself.

“I don’t even have a ticket,” said Morehouse sophomore Anwar Karim, who led a petition calling on Thomas to rescind Biden’s invitation.

Karim said he expected some students to attend nearby gatherings planned previously to commemorate the birthday of Malcolm X, a Black leader often credited with advancing the Black Power philosophy as a Civil Rights-era alternative to King’s practice of civil disobedience.

Thomas said in the interview that silent, non-disruptive protests would be tolerated, but repeated a pledge to halt the ceremony if disruptions mount.

Former U.S. Rep Cedric Richmond, a Morehouse alumnus and Biden campaign co-chairman who helped broker the president’s appearance, called the graduation a “solemn event” and said the gravity of the moment should give potential protesters pause.

"I would hope that people will not interrupt a once-in-a-lifetime moment like that for those students and those parents and grandparents who are there to see these young men walk across that stage,” Richmond said.

In Detroit, Biden was set to visit a Black-owned small business before delivering the keynote address at the NAACP’s Freedom Fund dinner, which traditionally draws thousands of attendees. The speech gives Biden a chance to reach thousands of people in Wayne County, an area that has historically voted overwhelmingly Democratic but has shown signs of resistance to his reelection bid.

Wayne County also holds one of the largest Arab American populations in the nation, predominantly in the city of Dearborn. Leaders there were at the forefront of an “uncommitted” effort that received over 100,000 votes in the state’s Democratic primary and spread across the country.

A protest rally and march against Biden’s visit are planned for Sunday afternoon in Dearborn. Another protest rally is expected later that evening outside Huntington Place, the dinner venue.

Associated Press writer Joey Cappelletti in Lansing, Michigan, contributed to this report.

FILE - President Joe Biden speaks on the grounds of Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University, Jan. 11, 2022, in Atlanta. Biden will deliver the commencement address at Morehouse University Sunday, May 19, 2024, giving the Democrat a key spotlight on one of the nation's preeminent historically Black campuses but potentially exposing him to uncomfortable protests as he seeks reelection against Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

President Joe Biden, right, greets a young girl as he speaks with supporters at Mary Mac's Tea Room, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Joe Biden speaks with supporters at Mary Mac's Tea Room, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Joe Biden, right, greets Stacey Abrams at Mary Mac's Tea Room, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Joe Biden speaks with supporters at Mary Mac's Tea Room, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Joe Biden, third from right, poses with alumni of Morehouse College including Montgomery, Ala. Mayor Steven Reed, from left, Birmingham, Ala. Mayor Randall Woodfin, Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., Marlon Kimpson, a member of the advisory committee for trade policy and negotiations in the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Ga., and John Eaves, former chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, upon arriving at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Joe Biden, second from right, is greeted by alumni of Morehouse College including Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., from left, Marlon Kimpson, a member of the advisory committee for trade policy and negotiations in the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Ga., upon arriving at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Joe Biden, second from right, is greeted by alumni of Morehouse College including Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., from left, Marlon Kimpson, a member of the advisory committee for trade policy and negotiations in the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Ga., upon arriving at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)