Met Gala 2026: Priyanka Chopra skips and gets honoured in LA. She’s been one of India’s most iconic faces on the Met steps since 2017. This year, Priyanka Chopra Jonas trades New York’s grandest red carpet for a film set in Varanasi — and a global honour in Los Angeles.

The first Monday of May arrived today with its usual spectacle — 450 guests, impossibly expensive gowns, and fashion’s most coveted red carpet. But one of its most consistent Indian stars is conspicuously absent. And the reason is entirely in character for her.

According to Variety India, Priyanka Chopra Jonas will not attend the Met Gala 2026 — held today, May 4, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York — due to prior filming commitments in Varanasi for her highly anticipated Telugu debut, directed by S.S. Rajamouli, alongside Mahesh Babu. The decision ends a notable run of appearances that began in 2017, when she arrived on the steps in a Ralph Lauren gown alongside Nick Jonas.

Skipping

Met Gala 2026

May 4 · New York
Theme: “Fashion Is Art”
Reason: Varanasi filming

Attending instead

Gold House Gold Gala

May 9 · Los Angeles
Global Vanguard Award
2nd consecutive year

From New York’s steps to LA’s spotlight

While Priyanka won’t walk the Met Gala 2026 carpet, she isn’t stepping out of the global spotlight. On May 9, 2026, she will be honoured at the prestigious Gold House Gold Gala in Los Angeles, where she will receive the Global Vanguard Award for the second consecutive year. The recognition celebrates her 25-year career, her cultural influence across Asia Pacific and Western entertainment, and her ongoing work expanding South Asian representation on global screens.

She will be honoured alongside Jet Li, Eileen Gu, Charles Melton, and Simu Liu under the theme “A New Gold World,” making it a stage that speaks directly to who she actually is, beyond the couture.

“The Global Vanguard Award recognises her 25-year career and cultural influence across Asia Pacific and Western entertainment.”— Gold House, via reports

Met Gala 2026 & Priyanka — everything at a glance

Key facts

Detail	Information
Met Gala 2026 date	May 4, 2026 · Metropolitan Museum, New York
Theme / dress code	“Costume Art” · “Fashion Is Art”
Co-chairs	Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, Anna Wintour
Guests	~450 VIP invitees
Ticket cost	$75,000 per person; tables from $350,000
Priyanka attending?	No — filming Varanasi (S.S. Rajamouli, Telugu)
Priyanka’s Met history	5 appearances — debut 2017 in Ralph Lauren
Gold Gala date	May 9, 2026 · Los Angeles
Award received	Global Vanguard Award (2nd consecutive year)
Gold Gala co-honourees	Jet Li, Eileen Gu, Charles Melton, Simu Liu
Indian attendees 2026	Karan Johar (debut, speculated); Deepika Padukone (expected return)

The bigger picture at Met Gala 2026

Priyanka’s absence doesn’t dim India’s presence at this year’s event. Karan Johar is speculated to make his Met Gala debut in 2026, while Deepika Padukone is expected to return to the carpet for the first time since her striking 2019 appearance. The Met Gala 2026 “Fashion Is Art” dress code — tied to an exhibition exploring roughly 400 objects charting the relationship between fashion and the human body — promises the most conceptually ambitious looks the event has produced in years.

Priyanka Chopra Jonas built her Met Gala legacy look by look over nearly a decade. Skipping the Met Gala 2026 to shoot a Rajamouli epic and receive a Global Vanguard Award isn’t stepping back from the world stage — it’s choosing a different, arguably more meaningful place on it.

Watch Met Gala 2026 live: The red carpet streams tonight, May 4, on Vogue’s YouTube channel and Vogue.com. The Gold House Gold Gala — where Priyanka receives her Global Vanguard Award — takes place May 9 in Los Angeles.