NEW YORK (AP) — “Well, it took a minute,” said Spike Lee, surveying the glittering Met Gala crowd during cocktail hour through bright orange glasses that matched his New York Knicks cap. “But we’re here now, that’s the most important thing.”

Lee was referring to the fact that for the very first time, the Met Gala was making a point of celebrating Black style and Black designers — something he felt was an overdue milestone, but a very welcome one.

“Long overdue,” Lee repeated. “But we’re here to celebrate. And who knows what’s gonna happen because of this event? There’s gonna be reverberations around the world.”

Lee was echoing an excitement that many of the approximately 400 guests — luminaries in sports, music, fashion, film, theater and more — shared as they sipped cocktails or toured the gala’s accompanying exhibit, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.” The show is an exploration of Black menswear from the 18th century onward, with dandyism as a unifying theme.

Another film director, Baz Luhrmann, was touring the exhibit, designed by curator Monica L. Miller, a Barnard professor who literally wrote the book on dandyism: “Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity. He, too, mused on the importance of this year’s theme.

“Sometimes the subjects are fun, sometimes you go, that’s interesting. But this is a subject where you go, why has light not been shone on this before?” Luhrmann said. “Black sartorial power on culture is so great but how much talk has there been about it?”

Thinking of a departed friend

For Whoopi Goldberg, the most important person of the evening wasn’t actually there. It was her late friend, André Leon Talley, the fashion editor and personality who was so important to Black style, and with whom she’d attended previous galas.

Talley, who died in 2022, is honored in the exhibit; there’s a caftan he wore, among other objects. And Costume Institute curator Andrew Bolton has said he was an inspiration for the show.

“I think they did him proud,” Goldberg said during cocktails. “I’m very happy to be here again, but spectacularly happy to see how they took care of him.”

Asked what Talley would have thought of the show, she guessed he’d say: “I’m glad you understand.” And she added: “What better way to honor him?”

Goldberg was dressed head to toe — meaning mini-top hat to spats-inspired shoes, to handbag – in Thom Browne.

“He said. ‘Will you come?’” Goldberg said of Browne, whose suits, particularly, are hugely popular. “And I said, when you’re done, just put it on me, and I’m good. I feel incredible.”

So what is dandyism?

It was a favored topic of conversation; every guest had a slightly different way of defining what a dandy is.

For director Lee, it was simple: “Doing your own thing.”

For Audra McDonald, it was about “a sense of reclaiming” one’s own identity and worth. The Broadway actor, currently starring in “Gypsy,” was among the first guests examining the exhibit, along with her husband and fellow actor, Will Swenson.

Over at cocktails, the Rev. Al Sharpton was describing dandyism as a form of activism: the silent kind.

“It means to me that even in the midst of being in a socially limited situation, we celebrate. I refuse to submit to just having a menial job. I’m gonna dress up . I’m gonna tip my hat. It’s a sense of rebellion without having to speak it.”

A crucial sense of timing

Sharpton was full of praise for the Met having chosen this moment to honor Black style.

“It comes at a very important time,” he said. “To make a statement of diversity at the highest cultural level — which is the Met Gala — when diversity is under attack by the highest office in the land is more than if I could do a hundred marches. This is a monumental night.”

Broadway actor Alex Newell agreed. It was the performer’s third Met Gala in a row, but this one had a special meaning.

“It’s nice to see us represented this way,” Newell said. “Just when it is needed the most.”

A flower-filled night sky

Once gala guests climb the steps outside and enter the museum’s Great Hall, they encounter each year a monumental centerpiece, usually floral.

This year, it was hundreds — thousands? — of flower petals suspended from the ceiling, with lighting evoking a starry sky. The petals also hung over the Great Hall staircase, which guests ascended to greet the awaiting receiving line of gala hosts.

The petals — made of fabric, truth be told – were meant to symbolize narcissus flowers, and there were also reflecting pools, nodding to the myth of Narcissus.

The greeting was not only visual but musical: An orchestra, accompanied by swaying singers, played favorites like Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” and Stevie Wonder’s “Don’t You Worry ’Bout a Thing,”

Guests then either proceeded to view the exhibit, or head straight to cocktails in the airy Engelhard Court. Often, they seem to prefer socializing, but this year the exhibit was filled with guests.

Honoring Oscar (Wilde, that is)

One of the more famous dandies, historically speaking, was Oscar Wilde. And so there was symmetry in the fact that Sarah Snook — the “Succession” star — was dressed in a way Wilde would have liked.

It was certainly intentional. Snook now is appearing on Broadway in “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” the stage adaptation of Wilde’s 1891 novel in which she plays all 26 roles.

“Yes, There’s definitely an echo,” Snook said with a smile, about her striking (and aristocratic-looking) black suit. “Oscar would be happy.”

Snook said she was enjoying her night off at the gala — conveniently for the many guests from Broadway, theaters are dark on Mondays.

“I’m loving the celebration of beautiful things,” Snook said of her gala experience.

There are always first-timers

At every Met Gala, there are newbies — and they’re often rather starstruck. One of them was model Christian Latchman, 19, wearing a dramatic white ensemble that combined trousers with a long skirt.

If he looked familiar, that’s because Latchman is the face in the photograph on the cover of the exhibit’s massive hardcover catalog.

Asked to sum up his feelings about the evening, he said simply: “Astonishment. That’s the word for it.”

Also new to the gala was actor Keith Powers, who sat on the sidelines, soaking it in. Was it all intimidating? Overwhelming?

“All of the above,” he said. “It makes me anxious — and happy, and inspired.”

A call to dinner, tuba included

Cocktails are fun, but dinner at the Met Gala sounds even more fun — that’s where guests get an A-plus musical performance, for one thing.

But music also accompanies the call to dinner. This time, it was the New York-based High and Mighty Brass Band who did the honors, snaking through cocktails with drums, trombones, a tuba and trumpets.

Then guests headed off — slowly — to dinner, where they feasted on a menu by chef Kwame Onwuachi. Dinner began with papaya piri piri salad, and moved on to creole roasted chicken with a lemon emulsion, and cornbread with honey curry butter and barbecue greens. Dessert? That was a “cosmic brownie” with powdered sugar doughnut mousse.

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For more coverage of the 2025 Met Gala, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/met-gala

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — In a world of trade wars, tariffs and tensions, foreign diplomats in Zimbabwe found a more lighthearted way to vie for supremacy: a cooking contest.

Ambassadors swapped briefing notes for recipes in the quest to win the second annual #ambassadorscookoff challenge in the southern African country last month. Their task was to produce the most delicious-looking version of a favorite local village dish of chicken with rice in a peanut butter sauce. The public voted online after the diplomats posted photos of their finished meals.

“The atmosphere in international relations these days is a little bit tense,” said France’s ambassador to Zimbabwe and cook-off competitor Paul-Bertrand Barets. “We are human beings. As diplomats, we want also to have some fun and to relax.”

Barets, in a blow for his food-famous nation, didn’t win.

The crown went instead to Dutch Ambassador Margret Verwijk. Other contestants included ambassadors from Canada, the U.K., Australia, Turkey and “flavor master” Murad Baseer, the ambassador of Pakistan, whose meal took third place.

The dish the ambassadors were judged on has its own story.

It’s made with what are known as “road runner” chickens — hardy free-range birds whose tough, flavorful meat is deemed by many to be tastier than that of commercially bred chickens. Known for scavenging and surviving in harsh rural conditions, the chickens are a staple of Zimbabwe village cuisine and often command high prices in urban restaurants.

The cookoff organized by Zimbabwe’s popular online foodie community TeamFulo encouraged the foreign envoys to do more than just cook a good meal.

They visited rural and township markets to source their ingredients, learned local cooking practices and immersed themselves in Zimbabwean food, humor and culture. From bargaining at the markets in the local Shona language to cooking on open fires with clay or iron pots, and even tossing in some Zimbabwean slang for flair, the contestants dived in and posted their progress on social media.

For Zimbabweans following online, it provided a rare chance to see foreign diplomats embrace local life with seemingly genuine interest and humility. Followers cheered the ambassadors on and assigned them Shona totems — symbols of kinship and respect.

Australian Ambassador Minoli Perera, whose dish took second place, knelt on a reed mat, blowing into a fire. She stirred a huge iron pot similar to those usually used for big rural feasts. Fans dubbed her “Chihera,” a revered totem associated with a lineage of assertive, independent women.

One gushed: “Ambassador, you are truly a daughter-in-law of Africa. I love it, I love it!”

British Ambassador Pete Vowles was a fan favorite. Video of him roasting and pounding peanuts and preparing other ingredients was accompanied by his best Shona commentary for each step. His experience riding home in a packed public minibus while cradling a live road runner chicken like a trophy was a hilarious highlight.

“Send us videos when you cook!” women shouted to him at the market. He even prompted nostalgic comments from online followers like “now you make me miss my rural home!”

Vowles won the Choice Award, given to the ambassador who best connected with the public online and in person.

“You reminded us of the richness in our culinary traditions. You truly brought the spirit of community to life,” said TeamFulo. Fulo is local slang for food.

Barets said his social media videos showing him chasing a chicken, shopping at a dusty market and demonstrating his kitchen skills gained attention and boosted interest in more formal posts on France’s diplomatic programs in Zimbabwe, which is enjoying improved relations with the United States and European Union following two decades of sanctions that are gradually being removed.

The cookoff provided a unique avenue to connect with ordinary Zimbabweans and “convince them we are human beings and not statutes with neck ties,” Barets said.

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AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

WASHINGTON (AP) — Harvard University will receive no new federal grants until it meets a series of demands from President Donald Trump’s administration, the Education Department announced Monday.

The action was laid out in a letter to Harvard’s president and amounts to a major escalation of Trump’s battle with the Ivy League school. The administration previously froze $2.2 billion in federal grants to Harvard, and Trump is pushing to strip the school of its tax-exempt status.

Harvard has pushed back on the administration’s demands, setting up a closely watched clash in Trump’s attempt to force change at universities that he says have become hotbeds of liberalism and antisemitism.

In a press call, an Education Department official said Harvard will receive no new federal grants until it “demonstrates responsible management of the university” and satisfies federal demands on a range of subjects. The ban applies to federal research grants and not to federal financial aid that helps students cover college tuition and fees.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the decision on a call with reporters.

The official accused Harvard of “serious failures.” The person said Harvard has allowed antisemitism and racial discrimination to perpetuate, it has abandoned rigorous academic standards, and it has failed to allow a range of views on its campus. To become eligible for new grants, Harvard would need to enter negotiations with the federal government and prove it has satisfied the administration’s requirements.

The Trump administration has demanded that Harvard make broad government and leadership changes, revise its admissions policy and audit its faculty and student body to ensure the campus is home to many points of view.

The demands are part of a pressure campaign targeting several other high-profile universities. The administration has cut off money to colleges including Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University, seeking compliance with Trump’s agenda.

The White House says it’s targeting campus antisemitism after pro-Palestinian protests swept U.S. college campuses last year. It’s also focused on the participation of transgender athletes in women’s sports. The attacks on Harvard increasingly have called out the university’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, along with questions about freedom of speech and thought by conservatives on campus.

In a letter Monday to Harvard’s president, Education Secretary Linda McMahon accused the school of enrolling foreign students who showed contempt for the U.S.

“Harvard University has made a mockery of this country’s higher education system,” McMahon wrote.

Harvard’s president has previously said he will not bend to the government’s demands. The university sued last month to halt the government’s funding freeze.

In a conversation with alumni last week, Harvard President Alan Garber acknowledged there was a “kernel of truth” to criticism over antisemitism, freedom of speech and wide viewpoints at Harvard. But he said the conflict with the federal government has become a threat to the school’s autonomy.

“We were faced with a recent demand from the federal government that, in the guise of combating antisemitism, raised new issues of control that frankly we did not anticipate, getting to the heart of governance,” Garber said. “We felt that we had to take a stand.”

Harvard’s lawsuit called the funding freeze “arbitrary and capricious,” saying it violated its First Amendment rights and the statutory provisions of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

The Trump administration said previously that Harvard would need to meet a series of conditions to keep almost $9 billion in grants and contracts.

The school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has an endowment of $53 billion, the largest in the country. Across the university, federal money accounted for 10.5% of revenue in 2023, not counting financial aid such as Pell grants and student loans.

Harvard isn’t alone in its reliance on federal money. Universities receive about 90% of all federal research spending, taking in $59.6 billion in 2023, according to the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics.

That accounts for more than half the $109 billion spent on research at universities, with most of the rest coming from college endowments, state and local governments and nonprofits.

To make up for the loss in federal funding, McMahon on Monday suggested Harvard rely on “its colossal endowment” and raise money from wealthy alumni.

Harvard generally steers about 5% of its endowment value toward university operations every year, accounting for about a third of its total budget, according to university documents.

The university could draw more from its endowment, but colleges generally try to avoid spending more than 5% to protect investment gains. Like other schools, Harvard is limited in how it spends endowment money, much of which comes from donors who specify how they want it to be used.

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AP writer Adam Geller contributed reporting from New York.

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