Hudson Williams’ debut appearance at the 2026 Met Gala was a spectacle from start to finish.
Fans were captivated by his abs on display in the powder blue Balenciaga suit he rocked at the event, and his reunion with Heated Rivalry co-star Connor Storrie sparked fan speculation about their relationship status, but somehow his makeup look also caused a huge stir.
Plenty of men attend the Met Gala, known for inspiring celebrities to push fashion boundaries, wearing boring black suits, but Williams took a risk, not just with his clothing, but with colorful makeup.
While some fans loved his avant-garde makeup so much that they recreated the look, it also drew such harsh criticism that Aika Flores, the groomer responsible for Williams’ glam for the night, took to Threads to address the backlash to the bold look.
"Met Gala was chaos & a career highlight. High pressure, high stakes. As an artist, I receive all feedback, positive & negative, with grace & gratitude; it's all part of growth," wrote Flores, who has been working with Williams throughout his meteoric rise to fame.
"Taking a risk always comes at a cost, & I stand by that. There's always room to evolve, no matter where I am in my career," she continued. "While everyone is entitled to an opinion, it's important to remember there's a human with feelings behind the work, building something with purpose, vision, & heart. It cost nothing to be kind."
In case you’ve been living under a rock this week and somehow missed seeing his photos from the event flooding your timeline, one of Williams’ eyes had iridescent blue eyeshadow punctuated by dramatic winged eyeliner, while the other eye was covered in matte red eyeshadow and messier, smudged black eyeliner.
Williams told Vogue that the look was inspired by the Darren Aronofsky body-horror film Black Swan, with the intention that each eye represents one of the characters.
“We are trying to add a little bit of the mess to the Black Swan side, the sort of freedom, the chaos; and then on the blue side, we are trying to add this sort of austere, perfect qualities that the White Swan has," he explained.
Despite the intentionality, the glam sparked polarized reactions online, with some even posting comments like, "He was so happy to look a mess," and “Hudson is cute but the makeup is not! I said what I said," on his collab Instagram video with Vogue, showing him getting ready for the event.
It was reactions like these that likely prompted Flores to write a follow-up post, in which she urged fans to "be kind" and said she was "logging off."
