Jennifer Aniston Explains Why She Wants Nothing To Do With The Met Gala

Jennifer Aniston can do the glam thing when she wants to, but there is one red-carpet circus she keeps skipping: the Met Gala. And yes, she gets invited. Every time.

So why is Jen a Met no-show?

Short version: the whole production stresses her out. In a recent chat with Glamour, she was blunt about it.

"It overwhelms me."

"I am a 'jeans and flip-flops and tank top' kind of girl. I love dressing up too, but for me it is a mental game of... 'Let's get dressed up, put on a fancy dress, makeup, get your hair all purdy and go sit in a big room with your peers.'"

That tracks with how she has talked about red carpets for years. She enjoys the work and will turn it on when she needs to, but the constant dress-up grind? Not her happy place.

Her red-carpet reality, minus the fairy tale

Aniston, one of the world’s highest-paid actresses and a co-star of Apple TV's The Morning Show, has a complicated relationship with events like this. She has said the fashion chatter can feel like a sport that builds you up just to tear you down, especially when everyone is picking apart what you wore. Back in 2021, she wrote in InStyle that she has never really cracked the posing part of big events — basically, she just does her best and gets through it.

But she still shows up when it matters

It is not like she never leaves the house. At last year’s Emmys, she wore a sparkling strapless silver gown. A few months earlier at the Golden Globes, she went classic in a custom black strapless dress. She will bring the polish for the big ones — just not for the Met.

The Met Gala part

The Met Gala is an invitation-only blowout on the first Monday in May, packed with the biggest names across industries in high-wattage suits and gowns. Aniston’s name is on the guest list, but she simply opts out. That is the line for her. And she is hardly alone: Meryl Streep and her ex-husband Brad Pitt are also among the big names you do not see on those Met steps.

Friends icon, bona fide movie star, plenty of glam when she feels like it — but the ultra-orchestrated, peer-packed fashion prom? Hard pass. Honestly, relatable.

Got a favorite Jen red-carpet look? I am partial to the sleek, unfussy ones — but you tell me.