Anok Yai denies Met Gala dress urination rumour

Q: If not Anok Yai, who was the real model behind the Met Gala’s most infamous wardrobe malfunction?

It is not publicly known. Based on the available reporting, the model in Mickey Freeman’s Met Gala anecdote has never been identified. What is clear is that Anok Yai was wrongly linked to the story. Yai publicly denied the claim, saying the report misrepresented her, and Freeman later backed her up on Instagram, explicitly stating that the unnamed model was “not Queen @anokyai.” The Washington Post had inferred Yai was the likely person because her 2024 Met Gala look appeared to match the description of a sheer, elaborate couture outfit. But neither Freeman nor any other sourced reporting has named another model, and no verified evidence in the public record identifies who it actually was. So the most accurate answer is that the “real model” remains unnamed. Any attempt to identify her beyond that would be speculation, not confirmed fact.

3 articles · Updated · The Independent · May 10

The 28-year-old model said on Instagram that a Washington Post report wrongly linked her to a 2024 Met Gala bathroom mishap involving a torn outfit.
Stylist Mickey Freeman, whose anecdote about an unnamed model appeared in the article, also said Yai was not the woman involved.
Yai, who attended last week's 2026 Met Gala in a custom Balenciaga gown, called the claim a misrepresentation of her character and demanded better fact-checking.