Not even fashion’s biggest night could escape the wrath of cancellation due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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The Met Gala, the buzziest fashion-society-politics-celebrity gathering of the year, just ran out of time. On Monday (March 16), the museum announced that in order to avoid gatherings of 50 people or more, as per health guidance around the outbreak of the new coronavirus, “all programs and events through May 15 will be canceled or postponed.”

That programming includes the annual fund-raising party, which heralds the opening of the Costume Institute’s yearly blockbuster and has become the starriest draw of the New York gala circuit — as well as its most lucrative. According to a spokesperson for the museum, no new date or further plans for the party, originally scheduled for May 4…

Chaired annually by Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of ‘Vogue’ and artistic director of Condé Nast, the gala not only attracts global attention as an exclusive, invitation-only soiree for the world’s top celebrities but also for its jaw-dropping fashions that often sees its attendees try to outdo each other.

In a statement lifted to the Vogue web site, Ms. Wintour called the decision “unavoidable and responsible,” and promised a preview of this year’s planned exhibition in the May issue of Vogue.