Why did Beyoncé and Taylor Swift decide to skip the Met Gala?

And they weren’t the only ones to bypass the star-studded event…

Last night saw the 2018 Met Gala take place in New York city, raising funds for the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art’s costume institute.

This year’s event implemented the dress code, Catholic Imagination, to celebrate the opening of the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination exhibition, seeing swarms of A-list celebrities take to the red carpet in their papal get-up.

From George and Amal Clooney to SJP, Amber Heard and Kate Bosworth, the Met Gala was definitely not short of famous faces, with Katy Perry donning a giant pair of feathered wings and a gold Versace mini dress for the occasion and Ariana Grande actually wearing the Sistine Chapel ceiling, courtesy of Vera Wang.

Add cameos from Rihanna in a bejewelled bishop’s hat and Kate Moss (her first Met Gala in almost 10 years) and a royal appearance from Princess Beatrice, and it looks all set to be one of the buzziest Met Galas to date. But it wasn’t the A-listers who were in attendance that got everyone talking, but the A-listers who weren’t in attendance, with a lot of high profile names skipping this year’s gala.

Serena Williams, Reese Witherspoon, Lady Gaga, Kate Hudson and Miranda Kerr were among those to opt out of the event, but with work commitments and babies set to arrive soon, it’s hardly surprising. Another predictable no-show was The Weeknd, who with two high profile exes in attendance, has a pretty fail-safe excuse.

People were most surprised by the absence of three key figures - the holy trinity if you will: Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Kanye West - usually regulars on the Met Gala red carpet.

So why did they choose to skip the Met Gala?

Taylor Swift’s absence is not yet known, with speculation that it could be down to conflicting work commitments. Beyoncé however reportedly chose to go on holiday with husband Jay-Z instead, getting some R&R before the couple jets off on tour together this summer.

The most noticeable absence of the night came from rapper Kanye West, with his wife Kim Kardashian attending the event solo.

While it was reported that Kanye was working on his album and therefore unable to attend, some believe that it is in fact his recent controversies that led him to bypass the public event, most notably his Tweets about slavery and his reported endorsment of Donald Trump.

We’re sad not to have seen these three, but given the dress code, there are some jokey suspicions that the three stars did attend, but their Holy Ghost costumes were so good that no one saw them.