Lip Reader Tells Us What Matt Damon Said To His Wife In Tense 2024 Met Gala Exchange
Another Met Gala has come and gone. The List has compiled our takes on who was worst dressed at the 2024 Met Gala, but the event provided the world with more than designer outfits to fawn or gawk over; it also included opportunities to dive into possibly salacious celebrity drama. With all those stars under one roof, you know something juicy is brewing around every corner.
One seemingly tense exchange was captured on video and shared on X, formerly known as Twitter. In the clip, Matt Damon and his wife Luciana Barroso are posing outside the front doors of The Mark, the hotel most celebrities use to get ready for the gala due to its close proximity to the Met. While posing with their arms around each other, Damon and Barroso look stony-faced. Their lips can be seen moving, and at one point Damon leans in, but none of their audio is captured on the video.
Matt Damon and his wife, Luciana Barroso, looking gorgeous as they head to the 2024 #MetGala! 😍 pic.twitter.com/9bVUC21fYm
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) May 6, 2024
At the end of the video, the couple smiles and holds hands. The List asked professional lip reader Nicola Hickling, founder of LipReader, what was said in the video. According to Hickling, the tense exchange began with Damon asking, "Do you want me to take you back?" to which Barroso replied in the negative before the couple negotiated how they'd walk into the event.
Luciana Barroso reportedly said 'Let go of my hand'
In response to Matt Damon asking if she wanted him to "take [her] back," Luciana Barroso replied, "No, we're not leaving," according to Nicola Hickling's lip reading. As the couple started walking forward, Damon said, "Oh are we, ah right." Although it seemed like Damon and Barroso reached to hold each other's hands at the same time, Hickling observed that Barroso seemed to say, "Let go of my hand." The video ends shortly after, but at the very end, it does seem like Damon is letting go.
Of course, private conversations that get broadcast across social media aren't always what people think. One example of an exchange between celebs that was misconstrued was a red carpet convo between Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. Body language said one thing, but a lip reader confirmed that they weren't fighting at all.
It's possible that there was no real tension between Damon and Barroso, just a desire for a bit of distance for a moment. It's no doubt overwhelming standing outside The Mark, due to multitudes of cameras flashing and paparazzi screaming for stars to look, "Right here! Right here!" The Met Gala red carpet is likely just as, if not more, chaotic — but Damon and Barroso were one of many couples to rock it.
Matt Damon and Luciana Barroso opted for elegant, understated outfits
Matt Damon and Luciana Barroso both wore Dior for the 2024 Met Gala. Like many men who attend the prestigious fashion event, Damon played it safe with a black tuxedo. Barroso's look was on the simple, understated side as well. She wore a strapless column dress in white with a matching scarf and was the picture of elegance. "The Garden of Time" was the dress code, a reference to the J.G. Ballard short story. The dress code inspired a lot of flora-inspired outfits, such as the seemingly ageless Demi Moore's eyebrow-raising look. Although Barroso and Damon's outfits weren't directly flower-related, Glamour posited that Barroso's white gown could be reminiscent of calla lilies.
Despite what could have been a tense moment prior to arriving at the Met Gala, once Damon and Barroso hit the red carpet, things seemed to turn around. In many of the photos and the video shared by the Daily Mail, the couple were seen with their arms around each other, holding hands, and smiling widely.
For more on the Met Gala, check out the truth of the Met Gala bathroom selfie tradition.