Beyoncé, Venus Williams, Nicole Kidman and Anna Wintour will co-chair next Met Gala

NEW YORK (AP) — The new Met Gala co-chairs have been announced, and it's a high-powered quartet: Beyoncé, Venus Williams and Nicole Kidman will join Vogue's Anna Wintour in hosting the star-packed event next May.

Williams, who has never hosted before, takes the role seven years after her younger sister and fellow tennis champion, Serena, was co-chair. Beyoncé was honorary chair in 2013, and Kidman co-chaired in 2003 and 2005. Wintour, of course, oversees the annual event, a fundraiser that last year brought a record $31 million to the coffers of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute.

The museum on Wednesday also announced a gala host committee, chaired by designer Anthony Vaccarello and filmmaker Zoë Kravitz. It includes musicians Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, LISA, Sam Smith and Yseult; dancer Misty Copeland; actors Teyana Taylor, Elizabeth Debicki, Gwendoline Christie and Lena Dunham; basketball player A'ja Wilson; models Alex Consani, Paloma Elsesser and Lauren Wasser; Vogue editor Chloe Malle; and artist Anna Weyant.

For years, Beyoncé, a seven-time gala guest, has been one of the most-watched celebrities on the carpet, keeping everyone in eager anticipation of her (fashionably) late arrival. In 2015, she made it worth the wait with a daring custom Givenchy gown that, with its strategically placed beading, gave new meaning to the term “sheer” and heralded the ubiquity of the naked dress trend. A year later, the superstar again wore Givenchy, this time in a gleaming, skintight latex gown.

No word on what she will wear next; the dress code for the May 4 gala has yet to be announced. But it will dovetail with the theme of “Costume Art,” announced last month as the institute's next spring exhibit.

The exhibit aims to celebrate “the dressed body” as it appears in art through the centuries. It will do that by pairing garments with objects from across the museum to show how fashion has long been intertwined with different art forms.

“It’s a show that can really live in fascinating ways at the museum and can pull from all different areas of our collection — paintings, sculpture, drawings,” the museum’s CEO and director, Max Hollein, said in an interview last month.

The show, overseen as always by the Costume Institute’s curator in charge, Andrew Bolton, will be organized thematically by different body types. It will include the “Naked Body” and the “Classical Body,” for example, but also less traditional themes like the “Pregnant Body” and the “Aging Body.”

The new exhibit will also have a splashy new home. “Costume Art” will inaugurate new gallery space occupying some 12,000 square feet (1,115 square meters), right off the museum’s Great Hall — giving fashion a prominent space in the museum and also helping to control congestion at the heavily attended exhibits. The new Conde M. Nast galleries — created from what was formerly the museum’s retail store — will house not only all spring Costume Institute exhibits, but other shows from different parts of the museum.

Bolton has said the gallery space “will mark a pivotal moment for the department, one that acknowledges the critical role fashion plays not only within art history but also within contemporary culture.”

Venus Williams returned to competition in July at age 45 after nearly 1 1/2 years away from the tour, though she had never retired. She became the oldest player to play singles at the U.S. Open since 1981. Serena Williams, meanwhile, recently threw cold water on the idea that she might be preparing to return to tennis.

“Costume Art” opens to the public May 10, 2026, and runs until Jan. 10, 2027.

FILE - Beyonce appears at The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala in New York on May 5, 2014. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Beyonce appears at The Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Benefit Gala in New York on May 2, 2016. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Beyonce appears at The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala in New York on May 4, 2015. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)

This combination of photos shows Nicole Kidman, left, and Venus Williams. (AP Photo)

Beyonce, left, accepts the Innovator Award as presenter Stevie Wonder looks on during the iHeartRadio Music Awards, Monday, April 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

HARRISONBURG, Va. (AP) — Billy Napier will be watching 12th-seeded James Madison's College Football Playoff game against fifth-seeded Oregon with an eye toward the future.

The former Florida coach was introduced Wednesday as the successor to Bob Chesney, who will leave James Madison for UCLA following the Dukes' playoff run.

“This place continues to make history and it’s our job to continue that,” Napier said. “It’s in the DNA here.”

Napier agreed to a five-year contract that will pay him a guaranteed $1,005,000 annually, a deal that ranks him in the top five among coaches in the Sun Belt Conference.

The contract includes a $2.5 million buyout if he leaves before the 2029 season. It goes down to $1.75 million if he leaves before the 2030 season, and $1.25 million if he leaves before the 2032 season.

Athletic director Matt Roan said in addition to a salary in the top end of the conference, Napier will have high-level pay for his staff and a revenue-sharing percentage that is the highest in the Sun Belt and competitive nationally.

“We certainly have enough resources to be competitive,” Napier said. “I wouldn’t be sitting here if that wasn’t the case.”

Napier went 40-12 in four seasons at Louisiana, then 22-23 in his four years with the Gators. His run at Louisiana saw him dominate the Sun Belt, making four appearances in the title game as West Division champs and league titles in his final two seasons there.

Napier never got things rolling at Florida, having just one winning season at 8-5 in 2024. He was 3-4 when he was fired by the Gators this season.

Chesney has led the Dukes to a 12-1 record, the Sun Belt championship and a spot in the CFP. UCLA had been pursuing him since it fired DeShaun Foster in Week 3.

“Where we’re at currently, we need to maximize the momentum that we have,” Napier said. “We need to take full advantage of these opportunities that come with the College Football Playoff.”

Calling the next 90 days “critical,” Napier said he’ll be focused on meeting and retaining the current players and hiring his staff.

In Napier, JMU may have found a coach who can bring stability to a program that just hired its fifth coach in the last 10 years.

“This could be the price for success,” Roan said.

But he believes Napier’s experience at Louisiana and the age of his children could also lead to a desire to stick in one place.

“This is about building a sustainable program that can have continued success,” Napier said. “To where I can drive home everyday and feel good about the type of team we could have next year.”

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FILE - Florida head coach Billy Napier watches his team line up against Texas A&M during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in College Station, Texas. (AP Photo/Sam Craft, File)