Fans aren’t getting head-turning looks from Billy Porter on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s steps this year.
The Pose alum, 54, shared that he’s not attending fashion’s biggest night next month as he continues to mourn the death of his mother, Cloerinda Jean Johnson Porter-Ford.
“I just lost my mom,” Billy told E! News on the red carpet for the TIME100 Gala April 25. “I have to take care of myself, so I’m doing that. And that means not going to the party sometimes.”
He added that “Daddy’s tired,” and pointed out, and “I can’t do everything.”
While Porter maybe missing the Met, he’s certainly been making strides when it comes to promoting his latest album, 2023’s Black Mona Lisa.
“I am on the tour circuit right now,” Billy explained to E!, “doing lots of prides and music festivals, going on tour of the U.K. So, I’m slowly trying to build that part of my audience.”
He noted his dream collaborations are Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga.
Porter announced the death of his mother last month, sharing on Instagram that she died peacefully with her family by her side.
“We were right beside her when she took her last breath, wrapped in our arms,” Porter wrote with his sister Mary Martha Ford a Feb. 29 Instagram post. “Mommy lived life to the fullest despite physical limitations pressed upon her. She was the personification of true Christianity and her unconditional love is a template that the world could benefit from employing.”
Porter and Ford added, “Her example is what we continue to strive for.”