The Met Gala sent the Twitter meme machine into overdrive.
What would a Met Gala be without a tsunami of internet comics poking fun at the event’s most outlandish outfits and moments? This year’s fund-raising bash at NYC’s Metropolitan Museum of Art sent the social media meme factory into overdrive with Twitter wits lampooning everything from Kim Kardashian’s “Harry Potter” villain getup to Lil Nas X’s inadvertent “Star Wars” cosplay.
Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian’s all-black, face-obscuring Balenciaga outfit might’ve been influenced by her estranged husband Kanye West. However, Twitter meme mavens thought the 40-year-old billionaire’s shadowy attire more closely resembled a “Dementor” from the “Harry Potter” books or the eponymous space parasites from Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi classic “Alien.”
“is kim k really going to the met gala as a dementor,” inquired one commenter on Twitter, along with a composite of Kim K and and an illustration of the soul-sucking fantasy demon.
Another tweet with over 100k likes shows a pic of someone in a black dress and alien mask with the caption “Kim Kardashian arriving #MetGala.”
And the comparisons didn’t stop there. “Very niche of Kim Kardashian to go as my sleep paralysis demon,” quipped one Twitter comic, while others analogized Kardashian’s ominous outfit to a walking manifestation of their “anxiety.”
Lil Nas X and A$AP Rocky
Of course, the “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” star wasn’t the only celeb to be clothing-shamed on Twitter. The online piranhas had a field day with rapper Lil Nas X’s gilded “under-armor” endosuit — the second of his Met Gala costume’s three phases — which many likened to C-3P0 from the “Star Wars” franchise. Then again, the “Old Town Road” singer’s ostentatious couture is perhaps unsurprising considering that he gave his latest shoe line a blood transfusion.
Manhattan rapper A$AP Rocky, meanwhile, was accused of compiling his bombastic outfit from a bowl of Captain Crunch cereal in this uproarious meme.
Pete Davidson and Timothée Chalamet
Elsewhere, “SNL” alum Pete Davidson — who arrived in Thom Browne — was analogized to a mad cartoon scientist while “Dune” star Timothée Chalamet’s Haider Ackermann tuxedo jacket and sweatpants made him a dead ringer for a chef, according to Twitter.
Elliot Page, James Corden, Channing Tatum, Adrien Brody and Brooklyn Beckham
Unfortunately dressing modestly didn’t keep the Twitter hounds at bay: James Corden, host of the “Late Late Show,” Channing Tatum, Elliot Page and other celebs were compared to the Met waitstaff after stepping out in understated tuxedos.
Grimes and Addison Rae
Singer Grimes’ badass “Dune”-inspired warrior costume — which featured a real sword — spawned memes galore with one fan suggesting that she should duel with the similarly attired Hunter Schafer. Elon Musk’s scary-looking weapon was reportedly comprised of a melted-down AR-15 and is part of a gun buyback project called “Guns2Swords.”
On the other side of the spectrum, Twitter users accused influencer Addison Rae of purchasing her unremarkable cocktail dress at discount clothing purveyor Shein.
“Me seeing Addison Rae #MetGala,” wrote one unimpressed Tweeter with a pic of Meryl Streep’s character from “The Devil Wears Prada” casting a withering glance.
Anna Wintour
Speaking of, another critic ripped into Anna Wintour’s flowery dress, joking that the fashion mag mogul had modeled it after a “floral couch.”
AOC
New York City Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez caused a kerfuffle online after wearing a provocative white dress emblazoned with her “Tax the Rich” motto in red. None were better than this side-splitting meme comparing the freshman politician to a bag of Chick-fil-A chicken.
“Who wore it better?” snarked conservative poster Noam Blum in the humorous tweet, which boasts over 66K likes.
Some critics found AOC’s proletarian messaging hypocritical given that she was wearing an expensive dress and attending an exclusive, $30,000-a-ticket event.
Ocasio-Cortez has since responded to haters on Twitter, writing: “The medium is the message.”
Rihanna
While the clothing digs were indeed hilarious, many of the best Met Gala memes involved impatient fans venting about waiting for perennial favorite Rihanna to finally arrive at the party.
The “Umbrella” rapper eventually stepped out on the red carpet in a billowing Balenciaga dress, before changing into a minimalist black T-shirt with a sheer maxi skirt for the after-party.
Some nostalgic internet denizens even reheated memes from Met Galas past, including an iconic fake pic of R&B artist Jason Derulo supposedly falling down the stairs at the fashion bash in 2015. It was later revealed that the photo depicted some other guy at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011, and that Derulo had never been to the Met Gala.