Janelle Monáe stood at the top of the bar in a sequined black and pearl bikini, leading hundreds of people to toast, champagne flutes clinking around. She does so with booming singing, and the crowd quickly returns to celebratory chaos. I stood on the periphery because I was too close to penetrate the crowd, which at one point included Lizzo, Jenna Ortega, Priyanka Chopra, Nick Jonas and Olivia Rodrigo. Not that I mind—a waiter walks past me with chips, which I happily munch on as I watch Monáe do what she does.
Happiness is short-lived. Billie Eilish walks in, and her presence sparks a frenzy among photographers. In order to “shoot”, one accidentally bumped into me so that one of my shoes was knocked off. When I fell backwards, my fries fell on the VIP table below. As I hurried to my feet, planting one bare foot on the carpet and picking a fry out of my hair, I saw the photographer’s camera screen. “Damn it,” I thought. “That’s an amazing photo of Billie Eilish.”
Party Six: The Nines’ Jeremy Strong, Anne Hathaway and Jon Neidich
The Nines party
begin at 1 am start time sent a message: This is not a party where you hang on to your phone for a minute or two go else The place. This is where the party ends for you.
It was a bold move to position itself as the grand finale of all The Met afters. A famous host can only be at one
night for each party, and with so many different options, reaching borderline celebrity quality (and by extension Broadly, achieving a definite cool factor) is difficult. The Nines does offer something unique, though: no cameras.
On a night where frankly everyone’s goal is to take pictures, it feels like a weird choose. Or strategically. The no-photo rule means there is no photo evidence of your actions – which in turn means that after a night of dressing up and posing, you can finally do whatever you want.
They did. When I arrived, I was quickly ushered in by Frankie Carattini, the most stylish doorman in New York, wearing a Ludovic de Saint Sernin top. Inside, I immediately saw what appeared to be the entire cast of )Succession, including host Strong, Alexander Skarsgård, Annabelle Dexter-Jones and Juliana Canfield . Cigarettes, vodka soda and an inexplicable bottle of Gatorade on one table, champagne and a half-eaten burger on another. Lauren and André Santo Domingo chaired the meeting from a box in the back corner, while Suki Waterhouse arrived arm in arm at Robert Partin Sen (Robert Pattinson) side. Meanwhile, a person dressed as Choupette wanders around. (No, not Jared Leto or Doja Cat, but the famous drag queen Aquaria.) Of the 100 faces in the red room in NoHo, I at least instantly recognized
Among them: Bradley Cooper, Rita Ora, Margaret Qualley, Jack Harlow, Rami Malek, Elle Fanning, Pedro Pascal and more.
