Last week’s Met Gala was super Black! The theme, Black Dandyism, opened the door for non-white figures and new global stars to be celebrated on the refreshingly diverse carpet. Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan made history by being the first Bollywood male actor to walk the Met carpet, but his introduction to the American pop culture scene has left some South Asian folks feeling sour. This is why:
In case you don’t know, Shah Rukh Khan is a Bollywood legend. In 2015, Forbes crowned him the “biggest movie star in the world.” Esquire ranked Khan the fourth richest actor in the world in 2025 after Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dwayne Johnson, and Tom Cruise. In fact, according to the Nashville Film Institute, Bollywood is the largest global film industry, producing around 1000 films per year, pulling in $2 billion in profit. But that doesn’t mean he’s big in America.
During Vogue’s Met Gala livestream, Teyana Taylor and Ego Nwodim interviewed “SRK, “and the interview (while a tiny bit awkward) had some standard questions and polite interactions. Then the star’s stylist (who’s outfit was more fitting for the occasion) jumped in explaining these celebs were standing before the most famous man. in the world.
The lack of acknowledgement of Khan’s global fame also left some of his fans feeling like the actor was disrespected.
“This man does not just show up to events. He is the event. The carpet was lucky he walked on it,” one TikTok creator expressed their frustration.
“He is more famous than the Met Gala itself,” one viewer wrote in the comments.
“Americans just have zero hospitality and guest manners they wouldn’t even do research before interviewing someone,” wrote another commenter.
“We [Indian’s] have a right to be disappointed... when it’s such a historic moment like having the first male Bollywood actor to walk the red carpet, I feel like they should’ve had some better questions and a lot more preparation. I would also argue that their tone felt a little condescending and it’s almost like they were talking down to him,” another TikTok creator said.
While some creators expressed their frustration with the interview, other South Asian creators are defending Taylor and Nwodim. TikTok creator @Nad, who highlighted that it was no coincidence the theme Black dandyism led to more diversity on the carpet:
“It is no coincidence that the concentration of Indian celebrities present at the Met Gala increased when the theme was about Black dandyism. Why should Indian’s and South Asian’s care that it was a theme about Black liberation that led to their influx at the Met Gala? Because we owe our existence in America to Black people,” Nad says in the video.
A lot of the comments under his video were in agreement with what he said. One user wrote, “Amen please educate your people. Black people have opened the door for all people of color! We have taken all of the heat but given none of the credit!!!”
“The Black board members, including Teyana Taylor, invited him. His fans are dogpiling on the very people who asked him to come,” wrote another viewer.
Other TikTok creators had smoke for designer Sabyasachi, who dressed Khan for the event, feeling that he disrespected Black Americans by not following the night’s theme.
“That man (Sabyasachi) literally got up there and said, ‘yeah I’m not doing that theme.’ Black dandyism we’re not doing it... that’s the disrespect. Y’all are completely missing the point,” said creator @secretdarlenne.
A reference to a point in the Vogue interview where Sabyasachi said, “representation is the most important thing, and we wanted to represent Shah Rukh Khan as Shah Rukh Khan and nobody else.”
One TikTok user wrote that Teyana Taylor and Ego Nwodim were actually too nice: “SRK only came because his kids said it was cool and Sabyasachi not only saying f*ck the theme but the best way to do the theme was to honor a non-black man. Teyana and Ego were too nice actually.”