Fans Lament Treatment of Indian Stars at Met Gala Red Carpet

On Monday, around the world, South Asian fans tuned in to watch an exciting moment unfold at the Met Gala — the arrivals of Shah Rukh Khan, a Bollywood star so popular he is referred to as King Khan, and Diljit Dosanjh, a record-breaking artist and actor who goes by Diljit. It was the first appearance for both at what is widely considered fashion’s most iconic red carpet.

But the mood for some quickly dampened when it became clear that the South Asian superstars were not receiving the level of respect that their fans felt they deserved, especially because both Mr. Khan and Diljit have cultivated international followings. Mr. Khan was the subject of an episode of David Letterman’s Netflix interview series in 2019 and, since 2020, Diljit has consistently topped global music charts and has collaborated with Western stars like Sia and Ed Sheeran.

In an interview on the red carpet with Mr. Khan and the designer who dressed him, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, the co-hosts of Vogue’s livestream, Teyana Taylor and Ego Nwodim, seemed largely unaware of who Mr. Khan was.

Then Ms. Nwodim gestured toward Mr. Mukherjee and asked: “And this is the designer tonight?”

After a short, awkward exchange about whether Mr. Khan felt nervous to walk the Met’s steps, Mr. Mukherjee jumped in to point out that “Shah Rukh Khan is probably one of the most famous men in the world.”

While not as famous in the United States as some of the night’s attendees, Mr. Mukherjee was not exaggerating. Mr. Khan, who has been an actor for over three decades, is something akin to a phenomenon inside and outside India. In 2023, Time magazine named him among the world’s most influential people and in 2015, Forbes estimated that his earnings make him possibly the biggest movie star in the world.

The creator behind DietSabya, an Indian fashion and Bollywood celebrity-focused Instagram account that has over 500,000 followers, said in an email that the Met Gala red carpet exchange was “a hot mess.”