US singer-songwriter Katy Perry arrives for the 2026 Met Gala celebrating "Costume Art" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York, on May 4, 2026. (Photo by Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images) / ALTERNATE CROP
AFP via Getty Images
Katy Perry’s “astronaut” outfit for the 2026 Met Gala was seemingly made to go viral, her look managing to satirize generative AI while launching a wave of memes.
Perry wore a white gown and a shiny headpiece by Stella McCartney that resembled an astronaut helmet, a reference to the singer’s trip to space last year, which ignited a firestorm of discourse on social media.
The 2026 Met Gala theme was "Costume Art,” emphasizing the relationship between fine art, fashion and the human form.
Perry’s reflective mask wasn’t just a nod to her brief stint as an astronaut, but a commentary on the current state of the digital landscape.
Perry’s metallic headpiece and flowing gown invokes the fusion of human content alongside artificial imagery and chatbots on social media, referencing the deluge of AI-generated fakes that often accompany images from the Met Gala.
Deepfakes of Perry have gone viral in previous years, and Perry’s outfit contains an extra finger on one hand, a direct reference to an infamous flaw of AI-generated imagery.
Advanced image models are now capable of generating hands, but extra fingers and twisted limbs still frequently pop up in AI images, and are often viewed as evidence of a deepfake.
However, it was the pop star’s headpiece that proved perfect for the internet, as a clip of Perry closing her face-covering was widely shared across X (Twitter), inspiring a soon-to-be-overused reaction GIF.
On TikTok, the clip was quickly incorporated into relatable “introvert” memes, sparking suspicions that the mask was deliberately designed for social media.
Katy Perry’s outfit wasn't the only look that intrigued the internet—Sabrina Carpenter arrived at the Met Gala wearing a distinctive Dior gown made of filmstrips from the 1954 film Sabrina, the dress even containing receipts from Letterboxd subscriptions.
Carpenter’s unusual look inspired jokes about extremely online film buffs.
Social media was just as fascinated by Bad Bunny’s look—the singer aged himself several decades for the Gala with the help of some surprisingly convincing prosthetics, sparking plenty of memes.
Perry’s headpiece references last year’s all-female Blue Origin space flight with Lauren Sánchez Bezos, unintentionally invoking the big billionaire controversy of the evening.
Lauren and Jeff Bezos were the lead sponsors and honorary co-chairs of the 2026 Met Gala, sparking fierce backlash from online commentators, as well as condemnation from model Bella Hadid and actress Taraji P. Henson.
Perry’s involvement in the much-mocked Blue Origin flight ignited plenty of online criticism, alongside a wave of memes featuring the pop star kissing the ground after landing back on Earth.
Perry described herself feeling “battered and bruised” by the backlash, describing the internet as a “dumping ground for “unhinged and unhealed" people.
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