Why were Beyonce and Jay-Z absent from this year's Met Gala?

The Met Gala may have dominated this week’s headlines, but so has another very important question: Where was Beyonce?

Stars like Katy Perry, Donald Glover, Ariana Grande, Chadwick Boseman, and Selena Gomez may have made their way down the red carpet, but arguably the most talked about couple – Beyonce and Jay-Z – were nowhere to be seen. Some of the guests, like Rihanna and Zendaya, took the theme very seriously, as they arrived as The Pope and Joan of Arc, respectively.

Read more: The best looks from the Met Gala 2018

And despite the event’s mildly controversial theme of Catholicism, it didn’t stop some stars from going all-out with their lavish and eye-catching attire.

2018 marks the second year in a row where the singer has not attended the glitzy bash, having declined last year’s invite due to being heavily pregnant with twins Sir and Rumi.

However, when Bey failed to show up for a second year in succession, people began talking.

But fear not, there’s actually a pretty standard explanation behind her and her husband’s absence.

The reason: a family holiday. It seems Jay-Z whisked her and the kids away for a last-minute vacation, ahead of their On The Run II music tour.

According to E! Online, Bey again declined the invite with a ‘thanks but no thanks’ response, after the family had opted for a relaxing break instead.

The singer had originally having planned to be there, after ‘working for weeks’ with dress designer Peter Dundas, she eventually changed her mind.

There’s also the small matter of the event’s theme: Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination, which raised some eyebrows and caused a debate amongst those who didn’t believe the fashion gala should be adopting a religion as an excuse to dress up. Yet there was relatively little backlash for its theme.

May have also been a factor in her non-attendance?

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