No, Jason Derulo didn’t fall down the stairs at Met Gala 2024

Celebrities from around the world gathered at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on Monday, May 6, for the annual Met Gala. 

Each year, the event, which is hailed as fashion’s biggest night, announces a theme. This year, it was the “Garden of Time,” which was inspired by an obscure J.G. Ballard short story first published in 1962.

Photos of celebrities in bold designer outfits, like these of singer Lana Del Rey’s tree dress complete with branches overhead, made the rounds online during and after the event.

But some people questioned whether other images claiming to be from the Met Gala were real. 

One of those photos shared widely on social media appears to show Jason Derulo falling down the stairs at the Met Gala.

THE QUESTION

Did Jason Derulo fall down the stairs at Met Gala 2024?

THE SOURCES

• RevEye, a reverse image search tool
• Getty Images photo from the 2011 Cannes Film Festival
• Associated Press photos from Met Gala 2024
• 2015 interview with Jason Derulo
• 2019 tweet from Jason Derulo

THE ANSWER

No, Jason Derulo didn’t fall down the stairs at Met Gala 2024. 

WHAT WE FOUND

Jason Derulo didn’t fall down the stairs at this year’s – or any year’s – Met Gala.

The photo doesn’t show Derulo and it wasn’t taken at any Met Gala event, but it’s been shared online for years as part of a long-running joke.

Using RevEye, a reverse image search tool, VERIFY was able to trace the photo to the 2011 Cannes Film Festival in France.

According to the caption of the original photo shared by Getty Images in 2011, the man seen in the photo was caught on camera trying to perform a stunt as he tried to crash the Cannes Film Festival. 

Another indicator that the viral photo was not taken at this year’s Met Gala is the red carpet. 

The Met Gala 2024 “red carpet” wasn’t actually red at all – it had a cream and green design to match the “Garden of Time” theme.

The false claim about Derulo falling down the stairs has circulated for years. The singer was asked about the meme during a 2015 interview with the radio app Audacy. 

“When somebody tried to send me flying down the stairs at the Met Gala, I was actually in rehearsal in LA,” Derulo said during the interview. “The Met Gala was actually in New York, for those who don’t know. And I just thought it was hilarious. I thought it was funny … I thought it was a little weird though my grandmother, she’s 93 years old, and she called me. She’s like, ‘Are you alright? I heard you fell down the stairs.’ I was like, ‘Grandma, I’m good.’”

Derulo also tweeted about the rumor in 2019, writing, “Let’s clear one thing up, that was NOT me at the #Metgala. y’all play too much, I was right on my balcony in Miami.”