It’s a fact universally acknowledged that Rihanna is the undisputed queen of the Met Gala. From her instantly iconic (and highly memed) Guo Pei yellow cape dress in 2015 to her Margiela pope ensemble in 2018, complete with a jeweled papal mitre, fashion enthusiasts can always count on the bad gal to bring the heat when it comes to the red carpet.

Read more: The Internet Is In Complete Agreement. Rihanna Is the Undisputed Queen of the Met Gala

So it should come as no surprise that the crowd waited with bated breath throughout the red carpet portion of the event for Rihanna to make her much-anticipated appearance. But as the arrivals started to die down, a lack of any sign of her brought to mind the the old adage that you can’t rush perfection—or in this case, Rihanna. This became abundantly clear after Vogue’s red carpet presenters, Lala Anthony, Derek Blasberg, and Chloe Fineman, bid viewers good night on the event’s livestream.

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Mike Coppola—Getty ImagesA$AP Rocky and Rihanna attend the 2023 Met Gala Celebrating “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 1, 2023 in New York City.

But good things come to those who wait: about four hours after the red carpet started, Rihanna and her partner A$AP Rocky finally made their appearance at the Met Gala. Rihanna might have missed the red carpet, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t make a dramatic entrance.

The superstar wore a voluminous white gown with a dramatic hooded capelet festooned with camellia blossoms, in an homage to Chanel’s signature flower; she later removed the capelet to reveal a halter neckline and layered pearl necklaces. She accessorized the look with matching camellia adorned white heels, red lips, and a pair of white cat-eye sunglasses playfully embellished with fake eyelashes. Rocky, for his part, also cleaned up nicely, donning a red plaid kilt over a pair of jeans, a skinny tie and a suit jacket.

It’s not a practice that everyone could pull off, but Rihanna makes being fashionably late look good.

An unlikely star of the 2023 Met Gala red carpet was not a celebrity in couture. It was a cockroach that distracted the crowd patiently waiting for singer Rihanna’s arrival to the Upper East Side museum.

Variety first posted a video of the cockroach running up the steps as photographer Kevin Mazur took a close up shot on his camera.

They later reported that the cockroach had been stepped on.

Reactions online were swift. On Twitter, Philip Lewis described the roach with Wendy Williams’ infamous words: “She is an icon, she is a legend, she is the moment.”

Another asked, “Did the cockroach pay the $50k?,” in reference to the pricey cost for a ticket to the annual event held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Thankfully, soon after, Rihanna appeared and restored order to the night’s festiviies, bringing the crowd’s attention back to where it belonged. R.I.P. to a New York City legend that got its fleeting but glorious moment in the spotlight.

YouTuber Emma Chamberlain is back at the Met Gala, and she appears to be the only major internet personality attending the event this year. It marks a departure from galas of the past few years, all of which have included at least a handful of influencers.

The Met Gala is the most exclusive fashion party of the year, held annually at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The event has historically hosted only the most famous and elite. As internet influencers have grown in their follower counts and cultural cachet in the last several years, it was only inevitable that some would make the guest list.

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Last year, several influencers were at the Met Gala, including popular TikTokers Addison Rae, Dixie D’Amelio, and Avani Gregg. In September 2021, the first gala held since the COVID-19 pandemic began, influencers in attendance included makeup vlogger NikkieTutorials, beauty guru Jackie Aina and Try Guys member Eugene Lee Yang.

The first influencer to attend the Met Gala was blogger Chiara Ferragni, in 2015. YouTuber Liza Koshy attended in 2018, and conducted red carpet interviews for Vogue’s YouTube channel.

YouTube makeup guru James Charles graced the carpet in 2019, writing in an Instagram caption of his look, “Being invited to such an important event like the ball is such an honor and a step forward in the right direction for influencer representation in the media and I am so excited to be a catalyst.” YouTuber and, later, late-night show host Lilly Singh was also in attendance that year.

This year, Chamberlain was on her own in representing the world of internet stars. The YouTuber attended the gala as Vogue’s YouTube channel official red carpet host for the third consecutive year, wearing a Miu Miu cropped blazer and matching baby blue floor-length skirt and headband. She quickly switched her look at the top of the carpet into a similar look in black, with a Miu Miu cropped undershirt for her hosting duties.

The inclusion of influencers at the Met Gala has been criticized over the years, as some have called out internet stars as not being on par with what they consider more traditional celebrities. A 2019 tweet with over 140,000 likes reads: “Met Gala is actually losing its exclusivity… I don’t know how they can have these boring YouTubers and D list celebrities walking around like it’s The Kids Choice Awards.”

Influencers aren’t the only non-traditional guests who have caught flack for their invites. Kim Kardashian, who in many ways is thought of as the OG influencer, and the Kardashian-Jenner family have notoriously received controversial invites. Even this year, rumors flew that Anna Wintour had not invited the famous family.

Kim attended for the first time in 2013 in a Givenchy skin-tight flower gown that embraced her baby bump. Last year’s gala, themed In America: An Anthology of Fashion, marked the first time all Kardashian-Jenner sisters attended the event.

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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden reiterated U.S. commitment to the Philippines’ security and noted the “deep friendship” of the two nations as he hosted Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for White House talks Monday as concerns grow about the Chinese navy’s harassment of Philippine vessels in the South China Sea.

Marcos’ visit to Washington comes after the U.S. and the Philippines last week completed their largest war drills ever and as the two countries’ air forces on Monday will hold their first joint fighter jet training in the Philippines since 1990. The Philippines this year agreed to give the U.S. access to four more bases on the islands as the U.S. looks to deter China’s increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan and in the disputed South China Sea.

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Meanwhile, China has angered the Philippines by repeatedly harassing its navy and coast guard patrols and chasing away fishermen in waters that are close to Philippine shores but that Beijing claims as its own.

But as Biden sat down with Marcos, the U.S. president went out of his way to note the progress in the U.S.-Philippine relationship—one that has had ups and downs over the years and was in a difficult place when Marcos took office less than a year ago.

“We are facing new challenges and I couldn’t think of a better partner to have than you.” Biden told Marcos at the start of their Oval Office meeting. “The United States also remains ironclad in our commitment to the defense of the Philippines, including in the South China Sea, and we will continue to support the Philippines military modernization.”

Marcos said the relationship was essential as Philippines and the Pacific finds itself in “possibly the most complicated geopolitical situation in the world right now.”

Read More: ​The U.S. Military’s Mixed Legacy in the Philippines: Thousands of Children Left Behind

Monday’s Oval Office meeting is the latest high-level diplomacy with Pacific leaders by Biden as his administration contends with increased military and economic assertiveness by China and worries about North Korea’s nuclear program. Marcos’ official visit to Washington is the first by a Philippine president in more than 10 years.

The U.S. president last week hosted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for a state visit during which the two leaders introduced new steps aimed at deterring North Korea from launching an attack on its neighbors. Biden is scheduled to travel to Japan and Australia in May.

Following the meeting, the White House announced the transfer of three C-130 aircraft and two coastal patrol vessels to the Philippines. The two countries also said they adopted defense guidelines aimed at deepening cooperation and interoperability between the two nations’ militaries across land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace.

The administration also said it is launching a new trade mission focused on increasing American investment in the Philippines’ innovation economy, new educational programing and more.

Increased Chinese harassment of vessels in the South China Sea has added another dimension to the visit. On April 23, journalists from The Associated Press and other outlets were aboard the Philippine coast guard’s BRP Malapascua near Second Thomas Shoal when a Chinese coast guard ship blocked the Philippine patrol vessel steaming into the disputed shoal. The Philippines has filed more than 200 diplomatic protests against China since last year, at least 77 since Marcos took office in June.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller on Saturday called media reporting on the encounters a “stark reminder” of Chinese “harassment and intimidation of Philippine vessels as they undertake routine patrols within their exclusive economic zone.”

“We call upon Beijing to desist from its provocative and unsafe conduct,” Miller said.

U.S. and Taiwanese officials have also been unnerved by recent critical comments by China’s ambassador to the Philippines, Huang Xilian, over the Philippines granting the U.S. military increased access to bases.

Huang at an April forum reportedly said the Philippines should oppose Taiwan’s independence “if you care genuinely about the 150,000 OFWs” in Taiwan, using the acronym for overseas Filipino workers.

China claims the self-ruled island as its own. The Philippines, like the U.S., has a “One China” policy that recognizes Beijing as the government of China but allows informal relations with Taiwan. Marcos has not explicitly said that his country would assist the United States in any armed contingency in Taiwan.

The officials described Huang’s comments as one of many recent provocative actions by the Chinese to put pressure on the Philippines.

Read More: Why Protecting Taiwan Really Matters to the U.S.

One official said that Marcos still desires to work closely with both Washington and Beijing but that he “finds himself in a situation” in which “the steps that China is taking are deeply concerning.”

Close U.S.-Philippines relations were not a given when Marcos took office. The son and namesake of the late Philippines strongman had seemed intent on following the path of his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, who pursued closer ties with China.

Before Marcos took office last year, Kurt Campbell, coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs on the White House National Security Council, acknowledged that “historical considerations” could present “challenges” to the relationship with Marcos Jr. It was an oblique reference to long-standing litigation in the United States against the estate of his father, Ferdinand Marcos.

A U.S. appeals court in 1996 upheld damages of about $2 billion against the elder Marcos’ estate for the torture and killings of thousands of Filipinos. The court upheld a 1994 verdict of a jury in Hawaii, where he fled after being forced from power in 1986. He died there in 1989.

Marcos noted that he last visited the White House when his father was in power.

Biden and Marcos met in September during the U.N. General Assembly, where the U.S. president acknowledged the two countries’ sometimes “rocky” past.

During their private meeting at the UN, Biden, a Democrat, stressed to Marcos his desire to improve relations and asked Marcos how the administration could “fulfill your dreams and hopes” to do that, a senior administration official told the Associated Press.

Marcos is also slated to visit the Pentagon, meet Cabinet members and business leaders and make remarks at a Washington think tank during his visit.

—Gomez reported from Manila. AP writer Darlene Superville contributed reporting.