Inside the 2026 Met Gala Cocktail Party: Bezos, Beyoncé and an Oil-Painting Great Hall

The New York Times reported on May 5, 2026, that its Met Gala cocktail-party dispatch focused on celebrity mingling involving figures including Jeff Bezos and Stevie Nicks, as attendees moved from the red carpet into a Great Hall decorated to resemble an oil painting.

The Details

According to search metadata from The New York Times article, gala attendees spilled from the carpet into the Great Hall, which was dressed to resemble an oil painting and featured real cypress trees alongside faux white wisteria. The New York Times search snippet noted that Blue Ivy Carter and Beyoncé were among those making their entrance during the gala festivities. The same search metadata also placed Jeff Bezos alongside Katy Perry as part of the evening's celebrity crowd. The New York Times article on the cocktail-party scene was published on May 5, 2026.

Context

Beyond the cocktail-party vignettes described by The New York Times, the evening's live performances drew independent coverage from multiple outlets. Rolling Stone and Billboard reported that Sabrina Carpenter and Stevie Nicks performed at the 2026 Met Gala. Rolling Stone and Billboard specifically identified the song performed as Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide."

Google News results showed that Vogue, Rolling Stone, Billboard, and The Hollywood Reporter independently covered Stevie Nicks' presence and performance at the event. Coverage from BBC and The Hollywood Reporter also documented arrivals at the 2026 Met Gala, with Beyoncé and Katy Perry among the attendees noted.

The performers and attendees named in the coverage represented a cross-section of music, technology, and entertainment figures. Stevie Nicks, the Fleetwood Mac singer, appeared both as a subject of the cocktail-party mingling reported by The New York Times and as a performer in the later portion of the evening. Sabrina Carpenter joined her for the performance of "Landslide," according to Rolling Stone and Billboard. Beyoncé and Blue Ivy Carter were reported as arriving during the festivities, while Jeff Bezos and Katy Perry were noted as part of the celebrity crowd.

What's Next

The Met Gala is an annual fundraising event for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, traditionally held on the first Monday in May in New York City. The 2026 event took place on May 5.