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The fashion set’s most-loved evening of the year is right around the corner, and it’s none other than the 2026 Met Gala — taking place on Monday, May 4, at 6:00 p.m. EST/3:00 p.m. PST. The dress code this time around? “Fashion Is Art,” celebrating the kickoff of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “Costume Art” exhibition and inviting Met Gala attendees to use their ensembles as a mode of artistic expression while thinking about the “inherent relationship between clothing and the body.” In 2026, the world-renowned event is co-chaired by Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour.
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Wish to tune in to the festivities live, without ever leaving home? E! will be hosting a Met Gala livestream — called “Live From E!: Met Gala 2026” — with coverage starting at 6:00 p.m. EST. You don’t need to have cable to get a front-row seat to the unmissable proceedings, though, as E!’s Met Gala red carpet programming is available to stream on DirecTV, Hulu + Live TV, and Peacock. We’ll be walking you through the benefits of each live TV streaming platform below, including trial options that let you watch the Met Gala for free.
Jenna Ortega and Sabrina Carpenter attend the 2025 Met Gala Celebrating “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 05, 2025 in New York City.
How to Watch the 2026 Met Gala Red Carpet Online for Free
Real-time fashion analysis on “Live From E!: Met Gala 2026” will be provided by host Justin Sylvester, Emmy Award–winning TV personality Keltie Knight, style expert Zanna Roberts Rassi (who will have just come back from Louisville, following her Kentucky Derby correspondent duties on NBC), “Summer House’s” Ciara Miller, celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton, and fashion designer Christian Siriano. According to E! News, entertainment reporter Zuri Hall will also be helming the channel’s celebrity interviews as A-list guests approach the museum’s instantly recognizable steps on Fifth Avenue.
Can’t wait to see how the likes of Beyoncé, Kidman, and Williams — as well as Met Gala host committee members and co-chairs Zoë Kravitz, Teyana Taylor, Sabrina Carpenter, and Doja Cat — interpret the phrase “Fashion Is Art”? Do so with the help of free trials or subscriptions to our editors’ favorite streaming services for pop culture news and entertainment.
Watch Met Gala 2026 Red Carpet Live Online for Free: Guests, Details
EDITOR’S CHOICE
DirecTV
E! is found across DirecTV’s genre packs and streaming bundles — Entertainment, Choice, Ultimate, and Premier among them. All DirecTV subscriptions currently come with a five-day free trial for watching celebrities step onto the famed Met Gala carpet live online.
After that, DirecTV channel packages start at $84.99 a month, with a possibility to save up to $480 in the first two years of your membership. Once said carpet is rolled up, use DirecTV to stream more culture-defining media, from “Project Runway” to the O.G. “The Devil Wears Prada” (as part of the platform’s Disney+ add-on at no additional cost).
Watch Met Gala 2026 Red Carpet Live Online for Free: Guests, Details
BEST FOR ENTERTAINMENT
Hulu + Live TV
Hulu + Live TV is another stellar choice for streaming the Met Gala online. It’s equipped with over 95 channels (E! is one), tacking on Disney+ and ESPN for your viewing pleasure — though if you’re a Met Gala armchair fashion critic, ESPN might not be coming in handy. The trial here is three days long, which is more than enough time to bear witness to everything that goes down on Monday. Outside of this trial period, Hulu + Live TV will cost you $89.99 a month.
Watch Met Gala 2026 Red Carpet Live Online for Free: Guests, Details
Peacock
Last but not least is Peacock: called out by E! as the foremost way to watch its Met Gala coverage online (filmed not only at the museum but also New York City’s Lincoln Center). Right now, Peacock isn’t giving out free trials directly on its site, but workarounds exist in the form of Walmart+ and Instacart+ memberships — coming with their own free trials, as it happens. Peacock’s most popular and well-rounded package is Premium, clocking in at $10.99 a month. Premium Plus allows you to go sans ads at $16.99 a month.
When Is the Met Gala? What Time Does the Met Gala Start?
The Met Gala will be held on Monday, May 4, at 6 p.m. EST/3 p.m. PST. In past years, Met Gala red carpet arrivals have lasted for approximately three hours. After posing for the papparazzi on the steps of The Met, celebrities will be ushered inside the institution for a dinner, a performance, and an exclusive tour of the new exhibition: “Costume Art.” These latter parts of the Met Gala agenda are not televised.
Who Will Be at the Met Gala This Year?
You can expect to see stars like Williams, Kidman, Carpenter, Kravitz (with Harry Styles?), and Taylor walking up the carpeted steps on May 4, with a notable appearance being that of Beyoncé: since the last time she showed face at the Met Gala was exactly a decade ago. Fans speculate that BTS will also make their debut at the event, and it’s not a stretch of the imagination to assume some of the Kardashians will be in town, too, along with Jeff and Lauren Sánchez Bezos — honorary chairs and lead sponsors of the spectacle — Rihanna (whose habit it is to come fashionably late), Zendaya, Hailey Bieber, and cultural sensations, like Connor Storrie, Hudson Williams, and Sarah Pidgeon, who were thrust into the public eye not too long ago but have already become red carpet staples.
Met Gala Fashion Predictions
Based on the Met Gala’s sartorial directives for 2026, we’re anticipating to spot sculptural gowns, embroidered capes, gravity-defying hairdos, and nails that moonlight as canvases for creativity. Per The Met’s Costume Institute, whose operations the Met Gala raises funds for each year, the “Costume Art” exhibit will “examine the centrality of the dressed body, juxtaposing garments and works of art from across the Museum’s vast collection.” That being said, ready yourself for some truly clever nods to The Met’s standout artworks, not to mention intentional attention brought upon the human form — utilizing sheer fabrics, tight silhouettes, and other fashion maneuvers to draw in the eye and generate headlines. Unlike the Cannes Film Festival, after all, the Met Gala has no prohibitions against naked dressing.
Zoë Kravitz attends The 2021 Met Gala Celebrating In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art on September 13, 2021 in New York City.
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Meet the Author
Stacia Datskovska is a Senior Commerce Writer at WWD. Previously, she worked at ELLE DECOR as an assistant digital editor, covering all things luxury, culture, and lifestyle through a design lens. Her bylines over the past five years have appeared in USA Today, Baltimore Sun, Teen Vogue, Boston Globe, Food & Wine, and more. Prior to joining ELLE DECOR, Datskovska learned the ins and outs of e-commerce at Mashable, where she tested products, covered tentpole sales events, and curated gift guide roundups. She graduated from NYU with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and international relations. Datskovska regularly reports on trending news and must-stream cultural happenings.
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