Queen Latifah Makes Rare Red Carpet Appearance With Longtime Partner Eboni Nichols at 2024 Met Gala

Queen Latifah and Eboni Nichols Cindy Ord/MG24/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

Queen Latifah made her Met Gala debut with her longtime partner, Eboni Nichols, by her side.

Latifah, 54, was all smiles walking the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City with Nichols on Monday, May 6. The couple were dressed in stunning Thom Browne looks, with Latifah sporting a shimmering dress with orange floral decals and statement black coat with white-and-black trim.

Nichols, for her part, complemented the Equalizer star’s ensemble in a black square-neck dress, black-and-white structured plaid coat and a black polka dot lace face veil. Much like the detailing on Latifah’s gown, Nichols’ dress featured an embroidered red rose.

“Eboni asked me out on a date, right Eb?” Latifah quipped in a red carpet interview with Vogue correspondent Emma Chamberlain, to which Nichols responded, “I was like, ‘We’re going to the Met ball. Make it happen.’”

Wanting to be the “hero in my household,” Latifah made her partner’s date night request come true with thanks to a Met invite from Thom Browne.

When asked whether they got ready for fashion’s biggest night together, Nichols said they got glammed in the “same space but separate.” Latifah went on to joke, “Especially for two dolls, we need all of that space and all of that room.”

Eboni Nichols and Queen Latifah Arturo Holmes/MG24/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

The pair’s Met Gala appearance comes two days after Latifah hit the stage at the 2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on Saturday, May 4. “We had a big 90-minute show there and we flew in, but we had fittings before that and we parent in between that,” Latifah explained on the Met red carpet. “And then, we get the four fittings and then here we are.”

Chamberlain went on to ask whether the pair’s son, Rebel, was “stoked” to see their stunning looks. “He doesn’t even know,” Latifah joked. “He’s just, like, in his happy life. And then we send him videos and he’s like, ‘Oh, you look so amazing.’ [Eboni] sent a picture. He’s loving it.”

Nichols added that Rebel was “very happy to see us dressed up.” (The duo have kept their child out of the public eye since reportedly welcoming him in 2019.)

Eboni Nichols and Queen Latifah Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Latifah and Nichols have made a handful of red carpet appearances since they were linked in 2013. In May 2023, they stepped out together in France at the amfAR Cannes Gala and the Aston Martin DB12 launch party. Nichols was also by Latifah’s side at the 2023 Grammys and the October 2022 premiere of the film Lyle, Lyle Crocodile in NYC.

What Is the Most Iconic Met Gala Look of All Time?

Despite keeping her love life and family life out of the spotlight, Latifah previously expressed her desire to start a family in a March 2016 interview with E! “I think I’m ready,” she teased at the time. “I can’t say what God has for me, but you will see. You’ll see when I’m lugging the baby on the hip that there is actually a youngin around here.”