Simone Biles Skips the Met Gala in Favor of a Quiet Night at Home—After Lamenting Sky-High Cost of Red Carpet Glam

Gymnast Simone Biles put her money where her mouth is when she opted out of attending this year's Met Gala and spent a cozy night in at her custom mansion instead—days after she spoke out to decry the exorbitant cost of attending celebrity events.

Biles, 29, has made two appearance on the Met Gala red carpet in recent years, first in 2021, then again in 2025, when she and husband Jonathan Owens attended the event together for the first time as a couple.

However, the three-time Olympian and her NFL star spouse were noticeably absent at this year's soiree—which was sponsored by Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, and saw the likes of Beyonce, Rihanna, Nicole Kidman, and Sabrina Carpenter in attendance.

While Hollywood's biggest stars descended upon the red carpet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Biles opted for a much more low-key evening at home with Owens, revealing on her Instagram Stories that the couple spent the night cooking up a delicious feast inside the custom property.

The first photo shared by the gymnast showed a tray of freshly baked muffins, while a second captured a proud Owens holding up a homemade pizza, which appears to have served as their dinner.

The couple's cozy night in comes just days after Biles warned that she would no longer attend red carpet events and instead remain at home "where it's free," because the cost of getting glammed up for the cameras has become too expensive for her to justify.

Biles has become a regular fixture at A-list events in recent years, particularly after taking a step back from her professional gymnastics career, however she admitted that the price she had to pay for a recent red carpet gala has left her reluctant to continue attending the glamorous soirees.

In a video posted to her TikTok account, the sporting sensation began by asking her fellow celebrities, athletes, and influencers to share their experiences, questioning whether the price she had paid was the "new normal," adding that, if it is, she is happy to skip all future events.

"If you're a celebrity, athlete, influencer, these questions are for you," she said, while relaxing in the living room of her custom-built Texas mansion.

"I just need to know if this is normal. Because I know going outside is expensive as f--k these days, but is it this expensive? I just recently had a red carpet event [and] with the stylist fee, hair and makeup team, my grand total ... any guesses? I'll wait. It's probably higher than what you're thinking. Keep going.

"Yeah, $22,000. Actually $23,000."

Biles further noted that while she "gets inflation" and appreciates that "prices these days have gone up," she said she does not feel equipped to continue paying that sum every time she needs to attend an event—claiming that she will simply turn down future invitations if she's going to have to fork out that much to feel her best in front of the cameras.

"I just want to know, is that f--king normal? I get inflation, I get prices these days have gone up," she went on. "But if that's the new norm, you all can have it, you all will never see me at another event. I'm going to sit my ass right here, where it's free. Free!"

Biles, who has an estimated net worth of around $25 million, then questioned others who attend these kind of star-studded events to share their own experiences, asking whether anyone else has encountered such a significant price tag attached to glam services.

She then joked that, if $23,000 is the expectation moving forward, she would sooner return to her gymnastics career than continue pursuing a more celebrity-centric career path.

"So yeah, please just let me know below in the comments, because I'm kind of spiraling since then," she shared. "Because I see a lot of y'all at events and there's no way you guys are paying these prices each and every time. Because some of y'all be outside for real.

"But there's just no way. And if so, baby let me go put that leotard back on, because ... yeah. Actually no, I just won't go."

Now, it seems, the gymnast has proven her point by skipping out on what is arguably fashion's biggest night of the year, one that sees celebrities from across the globe jetting into New York and enlisting an army of stylists, makeup artists, and hairstylists to ensure they look their very best on the red carpet.

Biles still got the opportunity to enjoy the height of luxury, however, courtesy of her custom-designed mansion, which she has previously revealed was inspired—at least in part—by a high-end resort.

In March, while posting a video of her remote-control drapes opening up one morning, the athlete noted that she had asked her interior designer, Diamond Hadley, to create the ambiance that one might find at a top-rated hotel.

"When we designed this bedroom, I told them I wanted it to feel like a hotel and it feels exactly like that," Biles captioned the quick clip, which showed the curtains opening up to the couple's beautiful outdoor patio overlooking their pool.

Set on the edge of the human-made lake, the pool looks out over the water and comes complete with a sizable spa, as well as several areas for entertaining or relaxing.

Biles also took a moment to showcase a flashy new accessory that she and Owens had delivered to their property: a brand-new golf cart that they will likely use to tool around the local community.

Sharing a photo of the vehicle perched on a truck bed, the sporting superstar wrote: "Special delivery this morning."

As for the more personal touches in their dwelling, Biles has begun adding nods to her impressive career inside her private office, which she revealed is now home to several framed accolades, including her Sports Illustrated cover from January 2025, when she was named as the magazine's Sportsperson of the Year 2024.

Above that sits another Sports Illustrated cover, this time featuring Biles posing alongside her fellow Olympians Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky. They were hailed as "The Greatests: Stars of a Red Hot American Summer" after their stellar performances at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

A poster from the Gold Over America Tour—a program that Biles began in September 2021, following that year's Olympics in Tokyo—completes the trio of framed achievements.