Megyn Kelly hit out at Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour for what she described as ‘hyper-pandering’ and ‘black tokenism’ at this year’s Met Gala.
The upcoming black-tie event will center around the theme ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’, which takes inspiration from the book ‘Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity’ by Monica L. Miller.
This edition of the event will mark the first time it fully celebrates designers of color, with a specific spotlight on how black men have utilized fashion to challenge stereotypes and demand recognition.
Kelly criticized Wintour during her show on Monday for selecting the controversial theme, suggesting that it was a tactic to divert attention from what she referred to as ‘being America’s biggest snob.’
‘Anna Wintour’s so white and her partner who’s like organizing this whole thing with her, also a white guy, decided that – they realized that they would take a hit if they were to plan this, so they brought in – it very much feels like black tokenism to me – a focus group of black fashion elites, allegedly, and also just well-known black people like Angel Reese, of the WNBA, to like give them the imprint of approval,’ she said.
‘And some of these folks had, like, meetings at the Apollo Theater, the New York Times wants us to know, they went to the Apollo Theater to plan out tonight’s Met Gala… as they tried to pay homage to black fashion,’ Kelly continued.
The host of the Megyn Kelly Show then went on to suggest that Wintour chose the theme after receiving years of bad press coverage for ‘how disgustingly excessive and over the top this showing of wealth is, where the plates go for over $70,000 a ticket.’
Kelly then claimed that she has personally witnessed crude acts inside the bathrooms at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, which she said is ‘making a mockery of this place that is supposed to house some of our greatest works.’
‘So now they’ve decided to try to get over this reputation of Anna Wintour being America’s biggest snob, and this thing being the most over-the-top, elitist, evil event by pandering to blacks,’ the former Fox News host concluded.
Along with Wintour, co-chairs, including Lewis Hamilton, ASAP Rocky, Colman Domingo and Pharrell Williams and honorary chair LeBron James will be running the event.
It has already received some backlash as Wintour -who controls every aspect of the guest list, ultimately deciding who is ‘in’ and who is ‘out’ – decided to snub anyone associated with President Donald Trump.
The president has been disinvited from the star-studded event since 2017, even though he and the First Lady regularly attended the gala in the past – and Trump even proposed to her in April 2004 on their way over there.
First Buddy Elon Musk as well as Trump allies Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg have also reportedly been denied a seat at the gala, according to the New York Times.
Meanwhile, there are reports that other more liberal political figures, including former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will be in attendance.
There is even a rumor circulating that former Vice President Kamala Harris might make an appearance as well, an unidentified source told the Times.
Yet Wintour has claimed that the show ‘was never about politics – not in conception, not now.’
Instead, she said it is really about ‘self-determination, beauty, creativity and holding up a lens to history.’
Still, Wintour claimed that this year’s theme has a ‘heightened meaning in 2025’ because it is ‘recognizing and taking seriously the contributions of black designers and the black community in fashion.’
Cultural critic Louis Piscano also said: ‘This feels way bigger than just fashion.’
‘Putting black style front and center sends a real message,’ he stated, adding: ‘It’s important that we don’t sit this one out.’
Piscano said he’s ‘already bracing for the conservative backlash’ the event will get, but that is ‘why it’s especially important that people show up.’
