Doja Cat is dividing the internet for her Met Gala vaping faux pas

The rules of attendance are few but firm

Doja Cat at the 2023 Met Gala honouring Karl Lagerfeld. Image: Getty

With the Met Gala back again for another year, one of its A-list guests broke a cardinal event rule before even making it inside.

Posing for photos on the steps of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, rapper Doja Cat (who was also wearing feline prosthetics as part of her costume and meowed throughout most of her red-carpet interviews) was spotted vaping while waiting to enter the annual Met Gala event hosted by Vogue editor Anna Wintour. 

Paying homage to the late Karl Lagerfeld, who was best known for his work at Chanel, Doja’s cat outfit is believed to be in tribute to the late designer’s beloved pet cat, Choupette. And for what seems like pretty obvious reasons, smoking at an art museum - particularly one that houses some of the world’s most celebrated and expensive artworks - is a big no-no. 

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What’s more, it comes at a time when vaping is under serious criticism for its addictiveness and the industry’s specific targeting of children through savvy marketing, influencer partnerships, and a thriving black market that makes accessing illegal vapes with unregulated amounts of nicotine and containing up to 60 chemicals in them as easy to attain as a bottle of water or pack of chewing gum. 

And while 27-year-old Doja Cat, who has 26 million followers on Instagram and TikTok respectively, isn’t responsible for the actions of her fans and the health choices they make, there’s no denying that as an A-List celebrity appearing at one of the biggest events of the year in a uniquely memorable outfit, she does hold a profound amount of sway and influence, particularly to those most at risk of long-term addiction. 

Last year, Doja Cat revealed to fans she was trying to quit vaping after a tonsil infection turned into an abscess that required surgery, telling fans she was taking antibiotics "but forgot that I was taking them and then I drank wine and was vaping all day long." From there, she said the surgeon had to drain the abscess before removing her left tonsil. 

She added that quitting vaping was proving difficult, explaining, "throwing them [vapes] away just instils panic. I'm addicted but I'm not weak. I was literally staring at my vape today that normally I'd hit a thousand times a day and hit it two times instead. I'ma try to go cold turkey for now but hopefully, my brain doesn't need it at all by then."  

Doja cat vaping in the background it’s so me #MetGala #MetGala2023 #DojaCat pic.twitter.com/1hVUwKDRTI

— FROY❀ (@froylanl) May 1, 2023

Her relapse comes as the Australian Government announced plans to crack down on the illegal vape market, with Health Minister Mark Butler saying, “Just like they did with smoking, Big Tobacco has taken another addictive product, wrapped it in shiny packaging and added flavours to create a new generation of nicotine addicts.”

In an address to the National Press Club, Butler added, “Vaping has become the number one behavioural issue in high schools and it’s becoming widespread in primary schools.” In Australia,  children aged five have been hospitalised over vape usage. 

In 2017, Anna Wintour and the event organisers faced huge public backlash from the Museum’s staff, donors and patrons after celebrities including Bella Hadid, Marc Jacobs, Dakota Johnson, Rami Malek and other guests were photographed smoking cigarettes in the bathroom. 

Now, Doja Cat could be set to face her own round of complaints and, perhaps even worse for her depending on how you look at it, face herself uninvited from future Gala’s for breaking one of the very few but very important rules of attending.

Originally published as Doja Cat is dividing the internet for her Met Gala vaping faux pas