AI Enters The Chat: How Many Viral Met Gala Looks Were Actually Real?

This year’s Met Gala honored the late German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, who famously headed Chanel for over three decades. Stars like Jenna Ortega, Cardi B, and Salma Hayek went all in— so much so that some questioned: “Why does everyone at the met gala look AI generated?” For one, we got Bad Bunny in a backless white suit with a meters-long rose train, everyone’s zaddy Pedro Pascal in shorts (!), and Hayek posing with someone in a full-on furry cat costume (more on that in a bit). In short, it was pretty wild for a Monday. We even got a viral surprise appearance by Selena Gomez— or did we?

As you may remember from the A.I.-generated image of Pope Francis in a white puffer jacket that confused everyone (and their abuelas) back in March, AI is making reality pretty blurry right now. Image generators make it as easy as simply typing “Paquita La Del Barrio at the 2023 Met Gala” to see Paquita cruising in— and possibly singing “Maldita sanguijuela, maldita cucaracha” to the cockroach that was on the carpet this year (really). In short, AI continues to confuse everyone on social media— meaning at least some of your favorite Met Gala looks might have been fake.

Selena Gomez’s alleged surprise appearance at the Met Gala just blew everyone’s minds… because it didn’t happen

Twitter user @kevormez’s viral post of Selena Gomez’s “surprise appearance” at the Met Gala got 13.3 million views and hundreds of thousands of likes. The image showed Gomez wearing a gorgeous blue sequin dress and a sleek side part on the Met Gala’s iconic carpet. One problem? The “Calm Down” star didn’t attend the Met Gala at all— and that viral image was completely AI-generated. So the dress was basically designed by pretty talented robots. Sort of.

Others took on the AI Met Gala trend and continued to confuse people on social media— you know, for kicks. For example, one Twitter user tricked a few into thinking Mexican singer Kenia Os was at the gala, even though she wasn’t:

Meanwhile, a TikTok account used AI to imagine what the British royal family would wear to the Met Gala. Just like with the similarly fake Selena Gomez post— it surely confused many people. Still, the images of what the late Queen Elizabeth would “have worn if she had attended the Met Gala” are impressive (and very pink).

Even more, fashion brand Vaquera made their own custom AI looks for the Met Gala, and as one Twitter user put it, they “kinda ate”:

And while there was someone in a cat costume at the Met Gala, this image is pure AI:

And although one Twitter user almost convinced people otherwise, Zendaya actually did not attend this year’s Met Gala:

So what was real at the Met Gala? Surprisingly, all of these looks

First up in what really went down at the Met Gala, we got Pedro Pascal wearing a full look by Valentino, including a long red coat and, yes— black shorts.

Of course, as with everything the “Game of Thrones,” actor does, it went immediately viral— and spawned memes like this one:

Still, many questioned if the look was actually AI, and controversy commenced:

For the sake of facts, though, Pedro Pascal’s look was 100% real. While people kept arguing about his outfit’s AI vibes, someone called it “Clifford cosplay,” so we’ll just leave this here, too:

Another outfit that was very much surprisingly real? Bad Bunny in a white Jacquemus suit with a back cut-out and a 26-foot floral train. It was epic:

And yes, so is this meme in response (LOL):

This year’s Met Gala not only gave us Salma Hayek in a gorgeous red Gucci gown. We also got a viral photo of her petting someone in a cat costume— AKA fellow actor Jared Leto. This picture? Not AI:

Jenna Ortega also really killed it at this year’s gala, wearing a beautifully-spooky look by Thom Browne:

And last, half-Dominican rising star Ice Spice didn’t “come to play” at this year’s Met Gala, and contrary to some social media speculation, really did make her first appearance on the carpet: