Each year on the first Monday in May, the Met Gala delights with an exhibition of celebrity fashion unlike anything seen the rest of the year.
But while celebrity fashion is the thing most viewers look forward to on the night, we can’t help but have a soft spot for the couples who attend the event together. After all, the event has been a go-to for many celebrity couples, including Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds or former couple The Weeknd and Selena Gomez, to make their red carpet debut.
So, in honor of the couples who’ve walked the Met steps together, we’re taking a stroll down memory lane of past celebrity couples of the event whose memorable ensembles turned out to be far more timeless than their love.
And there have been some big breakups since the last Met Gala with some major A-list couples. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West were big players on the red carpet since they made their first appearance together in 2013 — but they marked their last appearance in 2019. The same goes for exes Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady, a couple who always commanded the carpet in their appearances from 2007 to 2019.
So with the excitement surrounding the return of the Met Gala tonight, join us in looking back at some of the former couples who attended this highly anticipated event.
A version of this article was originally published in May 2020.
Joe Jonas & Sophie Turner
After their sweet appearance at the 2022 Met Gala, with Sophie Turner showing off her baby bump, no one expected her and Joe Jonas’ romance to end so soon. The former couple, who eloped back in 2019, surprised everyone when they called it quits in September 2023.
Since their split, however, the two have pulled out all the stops against each other in court. Oh well, at least they’ll always have the Met Gala.
Jodie Turner-Smith & Joshua Jackson
Speaking of couples who made their last Met Gala appearance in 2022, Jodie Turner-Smith and Joshua Jackson looked so sweet together that year. A year later, however, the British actress-model filed for divorce in October 2023.
The former couple, who share a four-year-old daughter, had been married for three years.
Tom Brady & Gisele Bündchen
During their 13 years of marriage, Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen made quite a few stunning appearances at the Met Gala. So, of course, when they split in October 2022, we were saddened by the idea we’d never see them again on the Met steps.
Their first appearance was in 2007 and, many years and two babies later, their last was in 2019.
Pete Davidson & Kim Kardashian
While this didn’t mark their red carpet debut, Pete Davidson and Kim Kardashian attended their second-ever red carpet together at the 2022 Met Gala. Sadly, the pair split a few months later in August. They were together for nine months.
Zayn Malik & Gigi Hadid
Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid looked so in love at the 2016 Met Gala in these matching silver looks. The former pair, who welcomed their daughter Khai in September 2020, were together on and off from 2015 up until October 2021.
The Weeknd & Bella Hadid
Speaking of on and off Hadid relationship, The Weeknd and Bella were on and off for four years until their eventual split in 2019. In 2016, the pair wowed in matching black looks at the Met Gala.
The Weeknd & Selena Gomez
Speaking of The Weeknd, the singer showed up to the 2017 Met Gala with another celebrity on his arm: his girlfriend at the time Selena Gomez. The pair dated for 10 months before calling it quits in October 2017. They did look adorable at the Met Gala, though.
Kim Kardashian & Kanye West
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West attended their first Met Gala together in 2013 when she was pregnant with their first child, North West. Since then, the couple became red carpet staples until their split in 2021. Their last appearance together at the Met Gala was in 2019.
Alex Rodriguez & Jennifer Lopez
Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez went to three Met Galas together — 2017, 2018 and 2019 — and they were a striking couple on the red carpet. The pair then split up in early 2020.
Since then, Lopez has either shown up solo to the event or with her new husband, Ben Affleck.
Marc Anthony & Jennifer Lopez
Little did fans know, but the May 2011 Met Gala was the beginning of the end for then-husband-and-wife Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez. In July, they would announce that they were separating and, later that year, she would begin dating dancer Casper Smart — who would also grace the Met Gala red carpet with her in 2013.
Charlize Theron & Sean Penn
Few people can rule the red carpet like Charlize Theron, and her year at the Met Gala with Sean Penn in 2014 proved to be no exception. And it’s no wonder she looked so happy — the two were in love and would even go on to get engaged that December. However, by June of 2015, their relationship had run its course.
Diane Kruger & Joshua Jackson
Back at the 2011 Met Gala, Diane Kruger and Joshua Jackson were still cruising along in their decade-long relationship with little indication that it would soon be over. But, just a few years later, in 2014, the two made their last appearance on the Met Gala steps.
Since then, Jackson has been joined by his ex-wife Jordie Turner-Smith on the carpet while Kruger, who has been dating fellow actor Norman Reedus since 2016, has attended the event solo a few times.
Jude Law & Sienna Miller
By the time Sienna Miller and Jude Law made it to the Met Gala red carpet in 2010, the Alfie co-stars were on the second round of their highly publicized relationship. After calling off their engagement in 2005 when news broke he’d been having an affair with the family nanny, Miller and Law reconciled in late 2009 after several years apart. And while fans hoped they would ultimately get their happily-ever-after, the golden couple gave up for good the year after this Met moment.
Ashley Olsen & Justin Bartha
File these two under another couple we forget how much we adored at the time! The two reportedly started dating in 2009, the same year they attended the Met Gala together, before calling it quits two years later in 2011. She’s currently in a long-term relationship with artist Louis Eisner, and he married fitness instructor Lia Smith in 2014.
Tony Parker & Eva Longoria
Oof, we had such high hopes for these two. Alas, you can’t judge a couple by their sizzling Met Gala appearances! Sadly, it would soon be revealed that Parker was apparently involved in an extramarital affair not too long after this Met Gala date in 2009 and, accordingly, Longoria filed for divorce the following year.
Johnny Depp & Amber Heard
Looking back at then-engaged Amber Heard and Johnny Depp’s last Met Gala date in 2014, no one could possibly have predicted the drama to come.
In 2023, after a highly publicized trial, Heard was found guilty of defamation against Depp. The jury originally awarded Depp $15 million in damages, but the number was later reduced to around $10 million, per Esquire. Heard was also awarded $2 million in damages, which she then appealed
Emma Stone & Andrew Garfield
Their love blossomed on the set of The Amazing Spider-Man, it shone on the Met Gala red carpet in 2014 (could they have been any cuter?!) and, sadly, it ended the following year. Still, we’ll always have these Met memories to remember one of Hollywood’s most precious former pairs.
Amber Rose & Kanye West
Raise your hand if you think it feels like roughly one eternity ago that Amber Rose and Kanye West attended the Met Gala together in 2009. Us, too. At this point, the two had been dating for a year and would last one more before both moved on — her with Wiz Khalifa and him with Kim Kardashian.
Bridget Moynahan & Tom Brady
Although it kind of seems like a million years ago now, Tom Brady and Bridget Moynahan used to grace the Met Gala red carpet looking like a million bucks together. Shortly after the May 2006 event, though, they ended their two-year relationship (although she would give birth to their son, John Edward Thomas, the following year).
Brady would also meet his ex-wife Gisele Bündchen shortly after, and rock the carpet with her for years since.
Taye Diggs & Idina Menzel
Sigh. Idina Menzel and Taye Diggs’ 2007 appearance at the Met Gala is just another reminder of what a beautiful couple they were when they were together. The two met way back in 1995 during the original production of Rent, got married in 2003, and had their son Walker Nathaniel Diggs in 2009. Alas, their love story came to an end in 2014.
Bradley Cooper & Irina Shayk
Considering how they practically stole the show at the 2018 Met Gala, Bradley Cooper and Irina Shayk seemed to be on pretty solid footing. A year later, though, they would no longer be a pair and she would attend the 2019 Met Gala alone. On the plus side, their four-year relationship resulted in their adorable daughter Lea De Seine, who was born in 2017.
Tom Cruise & Katie Holmes
Katie Holmes killed it on the Met Gala red carpet in 2008, two years into her marriage with Tom Cruise. It was the only Met appearance the pair would make in their seven-year relationship, which ended in 2012 when she filed for divorce.
Robin Thicke & Paula Patton
By the time this picture of Robin Thicke and Paula Patton was taken at the Met Gala in 2007, they’d already been a couple for 14 years. And they would last another seven, before announcing their separation in 2014 amid rumors that he had been unfaithful.
Naomi Watts & Liev Schreiber
By this night at the 2010 Met Gala, Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber had been together for five years and welcomed their two sons, Alexander “Sasha” Pete and Samuel “Sammy” Kai. But it basically turned out to be their halfway point, as the couple split in 2016 after 11 years as a couple.
Josh Duhamel & Fergie
We didn’t expect Josh Duhamel and Stacy Ferguson, aka Fergie, to become a couple. And in keeping with that theme, we also didn’t expect them to split in 2017.
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