After two big debacles at this year’s Met Gala, actress Keke Palmer may never be invited back to the star-studded event again. Looking gorgeous with Diana Ross 70s-chic, Disco hair, and a sequined ensemble reminiscent of classic Halston, Keke was an interviewer on the red carpet.
All was going well with co-host llana Glazer, as she and Keke shared interviewing duties for Vogue online. They were volleying back and forth in a live stream, capturing quick on-camera chats with the megastar attendees. Keke’s night, however, would end with two notable faux pas that set social media ablaze.
The first incident, and the most awkward of the two, occurred when Keke didn’t know who Brooklyn Beckham was, and in a seemingly innocuous exchange, she asked him where he was from. In all fairness, I probably could not pick out Brooklyn Beckham from a can of paint —but it wasn’t my job that night to do so.
Twitter users quickly pounced, mocking Keke for not realizing she was talking to the son of former Spice Girl turned fashion it-girl, Victoria Beckham, and Soccer star David Beckham. The 22-year-old Brooklyn is a star in his own right as one of today’s most successful male models with a massive social media following — nearly 13 million on Instagram alone.
The exchange happened when Beckham mentioned to Keke that he occasionally has to leave the country for extended periods and then return because he’s not a U.S. citizen. Palmer then asked Beckham where he was from, making it obvious, she had no idea who he was. For the record, though, Beckham was a perfect gentleman, and not offended as he kindly responded, “I’m from England.”
Twitter still had a field day, with this little gem being among my top favorite responses:
Keke asked Brooklyn Beckham where he's from? #MetGala
🙄🙄 pic.twitter.com/gsjYJO2B7V— Ty (@TweetieeTy) September 13, 2021
But baby, Miss Keke was just warming up. Later that night, as she and fellow guests sat down to dinner, Keke posted a pic to her IG Stories playfully mocking the food, or at least its appearance.
Her caption: “The Menu Chile.”
According to Yahoo News, the menu was supposedly planned in accordance with the event’s theme, “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion.“
It has been reported that guests at the gala enjoyed a selection of canapés before sitting down for a lavish meal. The first course was a salad made with farm-to-table ingredients. The main dish was creamy barley with corn, pickled turnips, and roasted maitake, and the final dish of the night was an apple mousse and apple confit with a calvados glaze.
Whatever was on that menu, Twitter was not impressed, and the responses were comedy gold. Here are a couple of my favorites:
they basically said:
"eat when y'all get home chile" pic.twitter.com/qBwEEueHUJ— higasha miyagi. (@bellaxbailarina) September 14, 2021
It’s giving bougie hospital food. 🤭 pic.twitter.com/SYfoK9jNmj
— Shaquille Sunflower (@HelloAryk) September 14, 2021
Celebrated Chef and restauranteur Marcus Samuelsson, who owns the famous Red Rooster restaurant in Harlem, defended the menu. In an interview with TMZ, he shared that he wanted to provide an entirely plant-based menu, and he heard nothing but positive reviews about the food —until Keke’s post went viral.
With the realization that she had offended one of the top chefs in the country, Keke took to Twitter to apologize but seemingly stuck to her guns, stating: “I just have different taste buds! I love this Chef, sorry to this man.”
https://twitter.com/KekePalmer/status/1438299620291973120?s=20
In fairness, Keke had many terrific and endearing moments on the red carpet, too. She exchanged fun banter with guests like young poet-laureate Amanda Gorman, Lil NasX, and Frank Ocean. And she shared a sweet moment with Timothéé Chalamet, who reminded Keke of how they first met in their teens when both were featured in a ‘Young Hollywood’ magazine story.
Despite Keke’s innocent missteps, she remains one of the most engaging celebrities on social media, with nearly 2 million followers on Twitter and 10 million plus on Instagram. Many in the Twitterverse praised her for being such a genuine and imperfect host, with a down-to-earth charm that made the stars at the Met Gala seem more normal. They are after all, everyday people — despite their ability to shell out $30,000-$50,000 per ticket to attend the event. Ouch!
People are not attending for the meal, trust me, if you are, you don’t belong there. They are going for the drinks, the party, to be part of the elite and to be seen. The 30-50k gets written off for charity.