Welcome back, everybody. Our first guests tonight are luminaries in their respective fields and also serve as co-chairs of this week's Met Gala. Please welcome to the show Anna Wintour and A$AP Rocky, everybody.
Welcome to both of you. Anna, you've been here before. Rocky, it's your first time. We're just thrilled to have you.
Oh, happy to be here. Thanks for having me.
What a week to have you. I just want to say congratulations are in order. I just feel as though Monday's Met Ball was a triumph. I hope you both feel the same.
Well, thank you, Seth, but we missed you.
Oh, that's very kind of you to say.
You were intimidated by the dress code.
I 100% was intimidated by the dress code.
And the competition.
Sometimes you just look at the competition and you say, 'You know where I belong? The couch.'
Well, we still missed you.
It really was exceptional. You were one of the co-chairs, and I heard that when Anna first reached out, Rocky, you thought it was a prank.
Absolutely. Absolutely.
I tend to get these prank calls, and, you know, I said, 'Nah, this can't be real.' But it was a dream come true.
It was really cool. You've been at the Met Ball before, but you've obviously never been a co-chair. So, Anna, you put together an incredible list of co-chairs -- Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, and there we see the group, and then we see Kamala Harris was there as well. This is a very good -- Pharrell, obviously. How do you choose your co-chairs? What went into it?
Well, this one was so much fun because I just had to choose from men. And I had a list of four men. Four men. And they all said yes. So it was -- There was no second choices.
And so I have to ask, Rocky, when you pick your outfit, do you feel a responsibility to run it by Anna first?
Well, she told me exactly what to wear.
That makes it easier. And when you heard what she wanted you to wear, did you immediately agree that it was a good look? Were you happy with it?
She told me to wear mine, so yeah.
Oh, good. Good. Alright. And then that's obviously a very happy outcome. It did seem as though, you know, the focus was far more on menswear than it has been in recent years.
Well, absolutely because the whole exhibition is focused on menswear -- Superfine. Everything in the exhibition was designed by a designer of color. And it was the first time, I think, in 20 years that we have focused on menswear. So it was a night for the men to shine. And they did. It was -- They were -- I mean, the looks on the carpet I thought were extraordinary.
Lovely.
Were you -- Do you have time over the course of the night to sort of take in all your colleagues' looks? And were you blown away by what you were seeing?
You know, I was just, like, happy that the theme was just, you know, menswear and just celebrating black dandyism and black excellence. You know, so I was in awe. And when I saw the other guys, I was like, 'I'm glad my outfit is the best, you know? I'm glad I wore it.' Totally joking.
It's often on the red carpet we find humility, you know? You wrote this was inspired by your longtime friend and coworker, André Leon Talley. What do you think he would have made of the night if he was lucky enough?
Seth, he would have loved it. He would have been at the top of the stairs, shrieking and yelling and fainting when he saw Diana Ross appear on the carpet. I mean, it was -- I know he was watching us from above. It was a night to -- a night for André.
I was wondering, I mean, I think he would have been shrieking, and I would like to show you some of the looks that were most -- I found most shriek-inducing and get your bounce on it as co-chairs of the event. Diana Ross -- I would say she brought her 'A' game here. That is really something to see.
And she hadn't actually been to the Met Gala, I believe, for 22 years. The last time she came was when we put on an exhibition called Goddess. So obviously that was perfect for her, and she actually sang 'Baby Love.' I remember it so well. She ran down between all the tables in this incredible red dress, and then just burst onto the stage and started singing. It was amazing.
Well, I hope she didn't try to run in this dress.
You're going to sing it for us?
How many people -- You know, obviously in the photo, they never show the people who were actually holding the train behind the dress. But did she sort of have three?
Yeah, it seems like.
Janelle Monáe -- This was exceptional as well. Explain the difference in the two looks here and what -- She just basically removed this to reveal this. Correct?
Yes.
This was a collaboration, I think, between Thom Browne, who's one of our biggest supporters, and the amazing Oscar-winning costume designer Paul Tazewell. And she looked fantastic.
Were you jealous that you were not wearing André 3000's outfit?
We spent the weekend measuring the doors of the Met at the top of the stairs to make sure that the piano would actually get in through the door.
That would have been so embarrassing if they're like, 'André's still outside.' He's still -- He refuses to take off the piano. He's still outside. At least you can't beat yourself up, Rocky, because I bet you weren't at home being like, 'Should I do piano? Should I not do piano?'
It was between that or a guitar on the back, you know?
Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens -- they looked wonderful together.
Yes, yes.
And she told me that actually walking up the blue carpet was more intimidating than the Olympics.
Really?
So we're going to put a pole vault on the carpet next year.
Next year, she can flip all the way to the top.
Maybe Rihanna's going to go into training for the '28 Olympics. What do you think?
I also -- You know, somebody with a comedy background always makes me happy. Ayo I just thought just looked so gorgeous. Ayo Edebiri.
She looks incredible. She has such style. And that was Ferragamo, a young British designer called Maximilian Davis. And I thought she looked incredible. Everyone looked incredible.
Yeah. It's a fantastic look.
Alright. I have a lot more to ask about the night and what actually happened once people got past the red carpet. More with Anna and Rocky right after this.
We're back with Anna Wintour and A$AP Rocky, everybody. We're talking about the incredible Met Ball. And you were mentioning 22 years ago, Diana Ross sang. This year -- And again, this is a surprise to people who are attending. They do not know who's going to perform.
No, we try and keep it under wraps. And we were so lucky this year in that Usher agreed to perform. And I have to say he did -- He was so generous. He flew in the day of the Met from Berlin. He was locked in the basement of the museum so no one could see him. And then we had to close the Temple while he rehearsed. Then he dashed outside and did the carpet and then dashed backstage and came out as this incredible surprise. It was amazing. Didn't you think?
I thought he was incredible. He was, like, unbelievable. And then he introduced a second surprise who was Stevie Wonder.
I mean, it's a very -- it's a very hard room to surprise.
They were stunned. They were stunned. And then he flew back to London that -- right after the show...
...to perform in London on Tuesday.
Yeah.
And I feel like when you say that, I actually can picture Usher literally just physically flying off stage.
Legend has it is that he rode roller skates to his next gig because, you know.
Hey, there was some breaking news with you and your partner, Rihanna, on the carpet. Congratulations. Congratulations.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Rihanna and Rocky and I and some other people actually had dinner the night before the Met, and he was dropping all these hints, and I was being really English and not saying anything.
No, I did, but I was being polite.
So, your first two kids have 'R' names. Obviously you and Rihanna have 'R' names. Is this a lock that the third will have an 'R' name, do you think?
