Why Rihanna skipped the 2024 Met Gala at the last minute

Rihanna was forced to skip the 2024 Met Gala after getting sick with the flu, E! News reports.

As viewers watched hundreds of celebrities arrive at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday, May 6, they anxiously waited to see if Rihanna would make a signature special appearance at the event.

For years, the singer and entrepreneur has delivered dazzling, must-see interpretations of the themes, and fans knew that she would give them a striking version of "The Garden of Time" theme.

Throughout the "E! Live From the Red Carpet" broadcast, the co-hosts teased that Rihanna's arrival was imminent. But, Rihanna had to back out of attending the 2024 Met Gala at the last minute due to illness, her rep confirmed to E! News.

Rihanna's team did not immediately respond to TODAY.com's requests for comment.

Before learning that she would not make it, fans assumed she was simply running late. Last year, Rihanna and A$AP Rocky arrived nearly an hour and a half late to the event, around 10:15 p.m. ET, according to the TODAY.com team on site.

“Wow, thank God I came! Honestly, thank God you guys waited, too!” she said as she passed by the TODAY team on the carpet.

In honor of the “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty” theme in 2023, she wore a custom Valentino couture dress and a silk faille cape stitched with 500 petals.

However, the signs pointed to the singer missing the red carpet this year after the event closed and the TODAY team on-site was asked to leave with no sign of the "Umbrella" singer.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com