There are at least 17 celebrity couples who have broken up right after the Met Gala

The first Monday in May is upon us, so you already know we’re ready to judge celebs and their intricate looks while scrolling on social and lounging in sweats. C’est la vie! The Met Gala is the most coveted fashion event of the year, and while A-listers like Rihanna and Colman Domingo work that red carpet in stunning archival pieces, others see it as an opportunity to make major announcements and debut their relationships on the Met steps. There’s a chance we’ll see celeb couples step out together (yes, we are still holding out for a Kylie and Timmy hard-launch), but the real question is: Will they want to?

Over the years, fans have noticed certain celebrity couples have broken up right after making their red carpet debut at the event. This pattern has been dubbed the Met Gala Curse. So, what’s the deal with this so-called curse? Let’s take a walk down memory lane and hope that none of our faves are affected in 2025.

What Is the “Met Gala Curse”?

To put it simply, the theoretical Met Gala Curse claims that once a celebrity couple makes their red carpet debut (or simply attends the highly covered event), they end up calling it quits soon afterward. Though it’s important to note some couples—like Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston—actually meet at the Met Gala and embark on a romantic journey. (Counterpoint: We all know how HiddleSwift ended, so I’ll spare you the details—you get the point.)

We’ve seen the “curse” in play a couple of times throughout the years, which might have you wondering...

Which Celebrity Couples Have Broken Up After the Met Gala?

There are a few notable ones (17, to be exact), so we’ll line them up here, rapid-fire style:

•    Kirsten Dunst and Jake Gyllenhaal—attended in 2003
•    Christina Ricci and Chris Evans—attended in 2007
•    FKA Twigs and Robert Pattinson—attended in 2015
•    Sarah Silverman and Michael Sheen—attended in 2015
•    Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik—attended in 2016
•    Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston—attended separately in 2016
•    Anne Wojcicki and Alex Rodriguez—attended in 2016
•    Selena Gomez and The Weeknd—attended in 2017
•    Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez—attended in 2017
•    Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott—attended in 2018
•    Hailey Bieber and Shawn Mendes—attended in 2018
•    Lili Reinhart and Cole Sprouse—attended in 2018
•    Grimes and Elon Musk—attended in 2018
•    Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth—attended in 2019
•    Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello—attended in 2021
•    Phoebe Bridgers and Paul Mescal—attended in 2022
•    Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson—attended in 2022

This article originally appeared on Cosmopolitan.com/Us in May 2025.

Lead image: Getty