Lena Dunham made a fashion statement as she walked the 2026 Met Gala red carpet, debuting an eyebrow-less look.
The actress, 39, leaned into the “Costume Art” theme during the Monday, May 4, event at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, wearing a red feathered and sequined Valentino gown.
Dunham attended fashion’s biggest night as a member of the 2026 host committee, which also includes Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, Misty Copeland, Lisa, Sam Smith and Teyana Taylor, among others. Zoë Kravitz and Anthony Vaccarello are the committee cochairs, while Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams are the gala cochairs.
Dunham celebrated her opportunity to serve on the host committee when her role was announced in December 2025.
“Of all the places I’ve felt amazed to be in my life, the Met after dark on the first Monday in May is right at the top,” she wrote via Instagram at the time. “Our family went to the Met every Sunday ‘because we don’t do church,’ my mother explained. I would spend hours at the Costume Institute, watching the fashion students sketch in the exhibits, imagining the mannequins coming to life. And then, on that night, they do …”
She continued: “I love this theme — feels like it was tailor-made for my passions, focused on the intersection of art and the body, and all the versions of what a fashionable body can be. In the years since I last attended, I’ve developed a new appreciation for what my body can do for me — incredible athletic feats like … getting up those steps in a low heel. See you in May 🥰 👠.”
Dunham made her Met Gala debut in 2012, becoming a consistent presence as she returned in the years that followed. However, leading up to the 2026 fundraiser, she had not attended since 2019.
In the years since stepping away from the gala, Dunham has been forthcoming about experiencing body-shaming.
“One narrative I take issue with, largely because it’s a story I don’t want other women, other people, to get lodged in their heads is that I should somehow be ashamed because my body has changed since I was last on television,” she wrote via Instagram in October 2021. “Firstly ‘did Lena eat the cast of Girls’ just isn’t a very good joke — I could punch that up for the Tweeter. Secondly, it’s ironic to have my body compared to a body that was also the subject of public scorn — an echo chamber of body-shaming.”
Dunham noted that she was being compared to photos from a time “when I was in active addiction with undiagnosed illness,” referring to her struggles with prescription pill misuse, endometriosis and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. “In the four years since, I’ve gotten sober and begun my life as someone who aspires toward health and not just achievement.”
In July 2025, Dunham revealed how the criticism of her figure prompted her to retreat from the public eye.
“Having my body dissected was a reason that I chose in general to step back from acting a little bit more and focus on my writing and my directing,” she told The Independent at the time. “And also just make different kinds of choices as an actor.”
