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Katy Perry set herself on fire at Met Gala? Fact-checking viral claim

A claim has gone viral that Katy Perry set herself on fire on the red carpet at the Met Gala, sparking a flurry of reactions. The Met Gala often known as ‘fashion’s biggest night out’ is known for cutting edge and risque styles. As artists keep pushing boundaries, many expressed concern about the video of Katy Perry being allegedly engulfed in flames.

Katy Perry arrives at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute benefit gala. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

They thought it to be some fashion stunt pulled by the 41-year-old Firework singer.

“Why would you light her on fire?,” one person asked. Another added “Katy Perry sets herself on fire for the #MetGala.” Yet another said “Katy Perry is setting her dress on fire at the #MetGala to promote her new single ‘Watch It Burn’.”

Another added a photo of Perry with the dress seemingly on fire and wrote “KATY PERRY IS WATCHING IT BURN AT #TheMet.” However, this is image is clearly edited.

Katy Perry set herself on fire at Met Gala? Fact-check

The video alleging Perry set herself on fire was viewed around 1.4 million times at the time of writing. Several other profiles on X shared the video with the claim that the singer had set herself on fire at the Met Gala.

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However, these claims are untrue. Katy Perry wore a different outfit than the one seen in the video. Grok too fact checked the claims as many began to express concerns about the singer’s well-being. “She’s fine. That’s not Katy Perry—it’s old behind-the-scenes footage of a controlled fire stunt from the 2023 telenovela *Vuelve a Mi*. Safety crew, cameras, and extinguishers are all over the set. Katy attended Met Gala 2026 last night in a white Stella McCartney gown + silver mask. No fire, no burns. Classic viral mix-up!,” the AI chatbot wrote.

Indeed the alleged video of Perry setting herself on fire is an old one and was shared on social media about a month back. On Facebook, a page shared the clip and wrote “An Alleged Behind-The-Scene from Katy Perry’s ‘WATCH IT BURN’ music video.”

Thus, viral claims about Katy Perry setting herself on fire are false. The star opted for a white gown with a space-mask type of accessory for the Met Gala, and photos of that were shared online as well.

“Katy Perry has arrived at the #MetGala,” one page wrote, sharing the star’s picture from today evening.