The Met Gala has been postponed

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Mar 17, 2020

This year's Met Gala has been postponed indefinitely, becoming the latest event to be impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. 

Originally scheduled for May 4, the annual fundraising gala for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in New York City will be delayed until an undetermined date, after the threat of the coronavirus has discipated.

The decision comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strongly advised a nationwide halt on gatherings of 50 people or more for the next eight weeks, causing the Met itself to shutter its doors. 

“The Museum will remain closed through Saturday, April 4," a museum spokesperson said.

"Additionally, the CDC advised over the weekend that there should not be any gatherings of 50 people or more for the next eight weeks. In deference to this guidance, all programs and events through May 15 will be canceled or postponed."

The choice to postpone was further addressed by Anna Wintour, who serves as the chairwoman of the Met Gala, in her most recent Vogue editor's letter. 

“Due to the unavoidable and responsible decision by the Metropolitan Museum to close its doors, ‘About Time,’ and the opening night gala, will be postponed to a later date,” Wintour said.

“In the meantime, we will give you a preview of this extraordinary exhibition in our forthcoming May issue.”

The theme of the 2020 Met Gala, 'About Time: Fashion and Duration', explores how clothes generate temporal associations that conflate past, present, and future. The time-focused theme comes as the Met museum celebrates its 150th anniversary.

The Met's decision comes as New York City officials continue to announce new measures to curb the virus' spread, including the shuttering of the city's bars and schools. Earlier today, New York City Mayor, Bill de Blasio, announced that city officials are considering the possibility of a curfew. 

As of this report, over 3,800 people have tested positive for the new COVID-19 disease in the United Sates and at least 74 have died. In the meantime, reports on the outbreak continue to claim that the United States is not performing adequate testing to help ease the virus' rapid spread.