The Significance of Timothée Chalamet Skipping the Met Gala for the Knicks Game
In 1994, the world nearly saw the New York Knicks win their first NBA Championship since 1973. The Patrick Ewing-led (and John Starks let-down) squad fell short to Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets in seven games. (Starks shot 0-11 from three-point range and 2-18 overall in Game 7; the Knicks have not come especially close to winning the Larry O’Brien trophy since.)
Not that that’s what the ’94 NBA Finals are ever remembered for.
On June 17, 1994, with the best-of-seven championship series tied 2-2 and the Knicks on the precipice of a home victory, most NBC affiliates carrying game five went split-screen: half Knicks-Rockets, half Al Cowlings driving O.J. Simpson down various Los Angeles freeways at slow speeds ahead of a heavy police escort. Simpson claimed to hold a loaded gun to his own head in the back of his white Ford Bronco, saying he was going to kill himself. The police took the threat seriously, probably in part because Simpson was at the time a respected former NFL star, an active NBC Sports analyst, and the star of the Naked Gun movies — but also because he had just killed his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her associate Ron Goldman. Allegedly.
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By the time Timothée Hal Chalamet was born on Dec. 27, 1995, Simpson had been criminally acquitted of the homicide charges. Simpson was later found to be responsible for the deaths in a civil case, and the court of public opinion has always known the truth.
Chalamet, 30, is not an especially long-suffering Knickerbockers fan — but last night, he earned his fan card (and I would argue, his man card).
On Monday, the Knicks opened their second-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers, dismantling their tristate-area rivals 137-98. New York’s 20-8 run to end the game wasn’t quite the team’s 67-13 run to break the Atlanta Hawks in round one, but it was more than enough to put Philly stars Paul George and Joel Embiid to bed. Not that they likely slept well.
As per recent tradition, Chalamet sat front row for the show, his baby-blue adidas on the hardwood. But what makes last night’s appearance special was not necessarily where Chalamet was, but where he was not.
The only other game in town last night that could rival Game One was the 2026 Met Gala, the annual ultra-swanky fundraising ball for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. That’s where Chalamet’s girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, was, along with family members Kim Kardashian, Kendall Jenner and Kris Jenner. Ben Stiller was there too.
These days, this side of Spike Lee (and with all due respect to Tracy Morgan), Stiller and Chalamet are the anchor tenants on Madison Square Garden’s celebrity row. They had a tough decision to make on Monday, and ultimately it was Zoolander, not Marty Supreme, who dipped on MSG for the M-e-t. (Note: not the M-e-t-s, because most people wouldn’t skip a root canal to watch the last place New York Mets.) Lee did the right thing this year, choosing to attend the game over the gala (presuming he was invited), the reverse of his controversial 2025 choice.
This year’s Met Gala itself was not without controversy itself. Amazon executive chairman (and founder, and former CEO) Jeff Bezos and his wife Lauren Sánchez were the chief sponsors of the couture event this year, which led to quite a bit of backlash. For a reported $10 million, Bezos and Sánchez bought their way into the highest of high society — they co-chaired last night’s event alongside Anna Wintour, Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams.
Seeing Chalamet (and not Stiller) seated courtside in a folding chair was a stunner that, for some, may have solidified the Wonka star as the Jack Nicholson of the East. (Lee is still the Hollywood name most-associated with the Knicks, but directors don’t have leading-man crossover appeal.) Imagine telling Kylie Jenner you’re going to skip what is her annual Super Bowl for an early-second-round basketball game? Kardashians have gotten divorced for less.
Of course, Kylie is not the only fashion icon in the relationship: Chalamet is a brand ambassador for Chanel and Cartier, and creative adviser for Urban Jürgensen. He regularly tops our annual Red Carpet Power Rankings, a collaboration between The Hollywood Reporter and Launchmetrics. Skipping the Met Gala in favor of the Knicks game was a professional decision for Chalamet as much as it was a personal statement.
Last night, cheering on his guys solo, Chalamet went from being a pretty boy to a dude — not an easy leap. Meanwhile, to get back in the Garden’s good graces, on Wednesday, Stiller may have to buy a World’s-Most-Famous-Arena’s™ worth of beers.
Let’s Go Knicks!
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