Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade Join UTA’s Fourth Annual Pre-Met Gala Party
gabrielle union and Dwyane Wade turned up for United Talent Agency’s fourth annual pre-Met Gala party on Sunday evening in Manhattan, entering the soirée alongside Karlie Kloss. The pair took a minute to enjoy Nubeluz by Chef José Andrés before settling in, a small but telling pause at a gathering built around celebrity clients and friends of the firm ahead of the Met Gala.
Nubeluz on the 50th floor
The party unfolded at Nubeluz by Chef José Andrés at The Ritz-Carlton New York Nomad, on the 50th floor. Charli D’Amelio was among the first to arrive, while Lisa Rinna said her daughter Amelia Hamlin was headed to the Met Gala the next day and that she stayed in Manhattan because she wanted to come to the party.
Rinna also said, “Harry doesn’t often do a lot of the fashion stuff… so it’s been nice for him to mingle in that. This weekend has been amazing.” The guest mix matched what UTA said through Darnell Strom as the party started: “The Met Gala guest list has always had a mixture of fashion and art, but also film, music, and sport. And being an agency that represents some of the most influential people across all of those areas, it’s a nice nod to all the things that we do”
Janelle Monáe before 9 p.m.
Janelle Monáe made an entrance just before 9 p.m., then said, “The main reason why I go to the Met Gala is in support of costume designers and costume art.” She added, “I love a theme, and I love collaborating with costume designers and their teams.”
Monáe also said, “Artisans spend hours, days, and months crafting, and I’m all about putting in the hours and the work to build something beautiful, so I’m looking forward to making beauty in the middle of chaos.” That put the night’s pre-Gala function in sharper focus: UTA was not just hosting a party, it was using one of Manhattan’s most visible pre-Met rooms to gather the fashion, film, music, and sport names that shape the guest list conversation before fashion’s biggest night.
Daisy Edgar-Jones and Tyriq Withers
Daisy Edgar-Jones chatted with Nicolas Hoult in the center of the room, while Tyriq Withers caught up with Dwyane Wade near the flowing Tanqueray martini fountain. Withers later greeted Chase Sui Wonders after spotting her from across the room, a reminder that these pre-Met gatherings run on quick, cross-room introductions as much as on formal arrivals.
The night’s real business was access: celebrity clients, friends of the agency, and the kind of mixed-room arrivals that make a pre-Met event valuable before anyone steps onto the main gala carpet. Gabrielle Union’s stop on the terrace fit that pattern exactly — a brief, visible appearance in a room designed to connect names across fashion, film, music, and sport before the next day’s Met Gala conversation moved elsewhere.
