Why Dakota Johnson Skipped the 2023 Met Gala

Met Gala style star Dakota Johnson chose to take a break from this year’s event despite being photographed in New York City on the days leading up to it. The New York sightings fueled rumors she’d attend, but she is one of several stars, including Hailey Bieber, Jimin, and Zoë Kravitz, who had been seen in New York before the ceremony but then still missed it. The red carpet came and passed without Johnson being among the stars photographed.

The actress did not detail the reason for her absence on social media, but it’s worth noting that Johnson may have just wanted a break after attending the Met Gala last year.

Johnson wore a tinseled sheer jumpsuit then:

Johnson did show off her casual style in New York City last week though. Here she is, dressed in jeans and a white tee on Thursday:

Johnson is a Gucci ambassador. She spoke to Vanity Fair in June 2022 about her relationship with the fashion house and how Gucci’s former creative director Alessandro Michele is her close friend. That friendship predated Johnson becoming a face of the brand in 2017. (Sabato De Sarno is Gucci’s current creative director.)

“We talk a lot; we text,” she said. “I don’t feel he’s elsewhere when I speak to him, which I feel most of the time when I speak to people that work in fashion.”

In the same interview, Johnson discussed why she objects to her mother, actress Melanie Griffith, describing her as a “privileged gypsy” growing up.

“I think that glamorizes it a little bit or makes it seem like everything was totally amazing all the time,” Johnson said. “My life is incredibly lucky and privileged, and the life I led growing up was remarkable—the places I went and how we lived and what we were able to experience. But we also struggled with internal family dynamics and situations and events that are so traumatic.”