Watch: Cardi B’s Polarizing Met Gala 2026 Look Is Being Compared to Intestines
Why yes, Cardi B, you are the drama—at least when it comes to making jaws drop upon arrival at the Met Gala.
The “Costume Art” theme and complementary “Fashion Is Art” dress code for the May 4, 2026, event at the Metropolitan Museum of Art has—as this year’s co-chairs Anna Wintour, Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams expected—resulted in a veritable cornucopia of eye-popping looks.
But the rapper born Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar is never one to just blend into the mix. (See all the 2026 Met Gala fashion right here.)
On this occasion, her seventh Met Gala appearance, Cardi B wore her most shocking look yet: a giant sheer Marc Jacobs dress—with black lace overlay—that seemed to resemble an abstract form of the human body.
“I need to hear more from the designer because right now all I see is lace covered intestines…” one person wrote on X, while another compared her to a “human colon.”
As another social media user quipped, “It’s giving lymphedema. I live ya Cardi but no.”
And if you’re under the impression that every little detail of her red carpet looks, from the diamonds around her neck to the tips of her bejeweled nails, is intentional, you would be right.
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
“We always try to make sure that everything goes right, that everything be iconic,” Cardi told The Hollywood Reporter in 2024. “I know people sometimes be like, ‘Oh, it’s not about who is there and who is not,’ but it’s like, no, you need to remember us forever.”
She proceeded to hit the steps that year with a nine-person entourage, every bit of manpower needed to help arrange the massive train of her flowing Windowsen gown for full effect—even if she was a tad tardy for the “Garden of Time”-themed party.
Last year’s theme, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” also suited Cardi just fine, with the “I Like It” artist crushing it in a green velvet ensemble crafted by Burberry designer Daniel Lee.
“She loves clothes and dressing up, which makes the process a lot of fun,” Lee told Vogue. “Cardi knows what she wants from a look and comes with ideas.”
So, even if getting ready for the Met Gala means “months and months of hard work for a five-minute payout,” as Zendaya‘s stylist Law Roach put it to E! News recently, every second has been worth it.
See all the celebrity fashion worth your time at the 2026 Met Gala:
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Matt Crossick/PA Images via Getty Images
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Photo by John Shearer/WireImage
Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Matt Crossick/PA Images via Getty Images
Mike Coppola/Getty Images
Matt Baron/Shutterstock
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
David Fisher/Shutterstock
David Fisher/Shutterstock
Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images
Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Image
Photo by Kevin Mazur/MG26/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
David Fisher/Shutterstock
Matt Baron/Shutterstock
Matt Baron/Shutterstock
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
David Fisher/Shutterstock
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Tune in to E! today, May 4, starting at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT for every must-see moment from the Met Gala 2026.
