Teyana Taylor Jokes She's 'Upset' She Left Her Phone in Van Ahead of 2026 Met Gala, for This Relatable Reason (Exclusive)

Teyana Taylor Jokes She's 'Upset' She Left Her Phone in Van Ahead of 2026 Met Gala, for This Relatable Reason (Exclusive)
Source: People.com

Taylor has two daughters -- Junie, 10, and Rue, 5 -- whom she shares ex-husband Iman Shumpert.

Teyana Taylor did not have her phone at the 2026 Met Gala -- and she's a little "upset" about it.

On the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday, May 4, the actress and musician, 35, told PEOPLE that she had not yet shown her daughter her Met Gala look this year for a very relatable reason: She "left" her phone in the car.

"No, I didn't text them yet!" Taylor said when asked if she had spoken to her kids. (She shares two daughters -- Iman "Junie" Tayla Shumpert Jr., 10, and Rue Rose Shumpert, 5 -- with her ex-husband, Iman Shumpert.)

"I left my phone in the Sprinter," she continued, referring to the van she arrived in at the star-studded event. She then joked, "I'm upset about it!"

The One Battle After Another actress was part of the host committee at the 2026 Met Gala. The dress code of the event is "Fashion Is Art," which channels the museum's spring 2026 exhibition, "Costume Art."

For her interpretation of the code, Taylor wore a silver fringed Tom Ford gown with a matching fringed headdress, which draped over half of her face for a mysterious effect. She shook her body on the carpet to showcase the full effect of the fringe-heavy, metallic ensemble.

Ahead of the event, the actress teased her look to Vogue, stating, "The outfit is always very, very important to me."

"It looks like it's melting as I move," she said of the dazzling silver ensemble. "I like to think of it as the 'ghost of a body,' it appears and disappears, appears and disappears as I'm moving."

Taylor is always one to watch at the Met Gala. Last year's theme was "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," which spotlighted the museum's spring 2025 exhibition, with a dress code "Tailored for You." She embodied the code, which nodded to the exhibition's focus on menswear and suiting, with a bold tailor-made pinstripe suit and padded cape.

Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter, who previously worked with Taylor on Coming 2 America, collaborated with the star to bring the show-stopping ensemble to life, according to Vogue. At the time, Taylor told Vogue that she tends to gravitate toward a tailored look for all events.

"I'm already not a big dress girl," she told the magazine. "I'm in suits even without it being a suit theme."

When reunited with her phone, the mom of two will surely be sending photos of her 2026 look to her two daughters, whom she shares with Shumpert, 35. Speaking with PEOPLE earlier this year, the Golden Globe winner compared her parenting style to a Disney icon.

"I think because when I am home and when we are together, I'm in such mommy mode that ... it's almost like Hannah Montana," she told PEOPLE at the TIME Women of the Year Gala in West Hollywood, Calif., on March 10.
"They understand it," she added of her daughters. "I live two different lives where it's like, 'Okay, here's carpet mommy. But then here is mommy, when she's home, we're going to the trampoline park, we're cooking, we're playing, we're drawing.' So they understand balance."

The actress also described her eldest, Junie, as a "leader."

"She don't walk in saying, 'My mom needs this,' or 'I'm this.' I love that balance," Taylor explained of the 10-year-old. "But then you see Junie and Rue on a red carpet and they posing and serving. So I just think it's amazing to see how they navigate balance. It's really inspiring. It just makes me proud as a parent."