Ben Stiller Pokes Fun At His Met Gala Date With Christine Taylor: 'I Didn't Wanna Cancel'

By Lea B
Ben Stiller and his wife Christine Taylor holding hands while posing at the 2026 Met Gala Mike Coppola/Getty Images

It sure seemed like Ben Stiller had someplace else he'd rather be than at the 2026 Met Gala with his wife, Christine Taylor. The beloved actor, who hasn't attended "fashion's Super Bowl" since 2016, had to skip the New York Knicks versus the Philadelphia 76ers playoff game in favor of a date night with Taylor on the first Monday of May. "Access Hollywood" filmed Stiller en route to the event, getting into his car as someone from behind the camera shouted, "Let's go [New York] Knicks!" (via Instagram). Naturally, this caught his attention. "Oh right, yeah," the "Zoolander" star agreed, before admitting, "I wish I was there." Stiller was serious about not wanting to go too. "For me, as a fan, I wanted to be at that Knicks game more than anything," he later acknowledged on "The Pat McAfee Show." But unfortunately, his hands were tied.

A friend of Stiller's had invited both him and Taylor to the Met Gala three months in advance. Not wanting to bail on their host, the "Meet the Parents" star, who typically organizes his schedule to accommodate the Knicks season and post-season, honored the commitment. But he almost didn't. The night before, the actor was on the fence about going and even thought about canceling at the last minute. "I said to Christine, 'I think I'm gonna get some sh** for this. And you know, I don't know what to do about it,'" Stiller recalled (he was right; tons of fans online roasted the A-lister for choosing the Met Gala over the Knicks). "And she said, 'Look, we have to do it. It's our friend. We made this commitment. There's nothing to do." And that was that.

Ben Stiller is a lifelong Knicks fan

Ben Stiller sitting courtside at a Knicks game Al Bello/Getty Images

Ben Stiller may not have had much of a choice between watching the New York Knicks play and attending the Met Gala, but he still managed to show up for his favorite team. The actor wore a navy blue suit with an orange tie as a clear nod to the Knicks, while his wife, Christine Taylor, went for a matching blue dress by designer Bibhu Mohapatra. "All I tried to do was, I said, okay, we're gonna wear our Knicks colors," Stiller confirmed on "The Pat McAfee Show." And, despite cellphones being discouraged, the "Tropic Thunder" star checked the score of the game whenever he could. Stiller also raved about the Knicks amid the gala's festivities. "Well, you know, if you can't be at Madison Square Garden watching the Knicks win their first playoff game versus the 76ers — Knicks in six! — this is a great place," he enthused to Vogue on the Met Gala red carpet (via YouTube). "This is a great second choice."

Timothée Chalamet, who's also a big Knicks fan, did opt to sit out this year's Met Gala for the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals: The Oscar nominee, who recently courted controversy for his comments about ballet and opera, opted to be at Madison Square Garden instead of joining his girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, at the glitzy event. This was news to Stiller, who reacted to Chalamet's absence on X, formerly known as Twitter, by writing, "Wait what." A TikTok user reckoned he must've been fuming. "Oh without a doubt," another replied with a laughing emoji. An X user blasted the actor by referring to Chalamet, arguing, "Sorry, he's now the celeb face of the Knicks as [clearly] he has his priorities in order."

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