Why Harry Styles Didn’t Join Taylor Russell at the 2024 Met Gala

Taylor Russell—acclaimed actress and, also, Harry Styles’ girlfriend—enjoyed a major milestone tonight, attending her first-ever Met Gala in a wood-painted bodice cast, sumptuous ivory skirt, and Fred Leighton diamonds. But she arrived without Styles himself, as the singer was overseas.

Styles skipping this year’s Met Gala comes as no surprise, as Styles has kept a low profile for the majority of 2024. Over the weekend, he was photographed far from New York City: Daily Mail ran photos of him riding his bicycle in London’s Primrose Hill neighborhood on Saturday.

Styles last attended the Met Gala in 2019, wearing a partly sheer Gucci blouse with black pants. His single pearl earring stood out as fan favorite amongst the evening’s menswear—in addition to the rings adorning his hands. Russell, meanwhile, had not attended a Met Gala before tonight.

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Styles and Russell haven’t spoken much about their relationship, but a source told People last week that nearly a year in, things are very solid. “They are fairly serious and have traveled together,” the insider said. “They do spend time in England.”

That source called Styles a “private person,” and added that he and Russell “have the same interests. She has carved a life for herself and worked toward doing what she wanted. She is talented.”

Styles spoke to Rolling Stone in August 2022 about why he prefers to keep his romantic relationships and 𝑠e𝑥uality private. “I’ve never talked about my life away from work publicly and found that it’s benefited me positively,” he said. He acknowledged that people will speculate: “There’s always going to be a version of a narrative, and I think I just decided I wasn’t going to spend the time trying to correct it or redirect it in some way.”