Pusha T — who was seated next to Taylor at the fashion event — posted multiple videos Monday of his fellow musician enjoying a meal from Chik-fil-A, which she had smuggled inside New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and poured onto her fancy Met Gala plate. In the footage, the “Gonna Love Me” hitmaker serenely munches on her food as Usher (yes, Usher) smiles and peers over her shoulder.
“@teyanataylor is embarrassing me,” Pusha T joked on his Instagram story. “She brought @chicfilausa to the #MetGala. I want her away from me… #HARLEM.”
“@usher tried to stop her…” the rapper quipped on the next slide.
Before sitting down to her personal meal, the actor and singer graced the Met Gala carpet in a sparkly, form-fitting suit dress designed by Thom Browne.
This isn’t the first time Taylor has packed her own dinner for the Met Gala. In 2022, she came prepared with chicken nuggets and a biscuit from another major restaurant chain.
“Last year … I came here. I was hungry,” she told E! News on the red carpet that evening. “This year, I took care of that. I got some Popeye’s in my bag. … You better not tell nobody.”
Other celebrities have also spoken out about the food offerings — or lack thereof — at the Met Gala. On Instagram, “Nope” star Keke Palmer shared a photo of her plate of assorted veggies and corn and wrote, “This is why they don’t show y’all the food … I’m just playinnnn.”
Lizzo also spoke out on Instagram about the food and beverage and the long lines ahead of the main event, recalling how the staff was “being really stingy with the liquor” the last time she went. The “Good as Hell” singer later posted a picture of herself eating some french fries in her black-and-white Met Gala gown.
“I was like, ‘B—? Can we get some chairs or some drinks or some hors d’oeuvres?’” Lizzo said, according to Cosmopolitan.
“He was like, ‘Red or white wine? And I was like, ‘Tequila! Do you know what I’ve been through? Do you know how many hours I’ve been in this corset? How long I’ve been in these damn shoes? Tequila!’”
According to Vogue, the 2023 Met Gala menu — catered by Olivier Cheng — featured “chilled spring pea soup with baby vegetables, lemon crème fraîche, and truffle snow, followed by Ōra King salmon with vegetable nage, asparagus, pickled strawberries, and radish — all served on vintage china.”
Cheng described the dinner as an homage to late German designer and Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld, who died in February 2019 and was the inspiration for this year’s Met Gala theme.
“This menu was designed to honor the late fashion icon and pay homage to his favorite foods and global palate,” Cheng told Vogue.
“These dishes were created to maintain seasonality while using some of his favorite ingredients, such as king salmon. There is a sophisticated elegance to these pairings, one we feel that he would have truly enjoyed.”
After Pusha T revealed her Met Gala secret, tons of fans praised Taylor on social media for her dietary resourcefulness.
“Teyana Taylor was the smart one,” one person tweeted. “Did you see the hot mess dinner menu All that money donated and they serve pea soup cold!”
“ND THIS IS WHY I Love @TEYANATAYLOR lol,” another person tweeted. “Bless that place with the lords chicken baby!”