May 26, 2026 7:00pm IST
Uorfi Javed On Picking The Met Gala over The Cannes Red Carpet: ‘Can’t Pay All That Much, Also Nothing Much Happens There’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Uorfi Javed has rarely been one to mince words. Known for her eccentric fashion statements, she says it as she sees it. But even though she has done everything from fashioning outfits out of things like cake to strutting in custom Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla, she still feels she hasn’t gotten her flowers. And there’s one thing that could change that: Walking those Met Gala steps.
During an exclusive chat with Variety India, Uorfi gets candid about the one thing that would shoot up her cred in the industry. “I think if I could buy a Met Gala ticket or if I could get invited there, that would change a lot of mindsets about me and would get me a lot of eyeballs. People would look at me like, ‘Wow, she did it!’”
Does she think the same about the Cannes Film Festival red carpet, another global platform that offers eyeballs? She says, “Anyone can go to Cannes. You can pay and I can also pay right now and go. I don't want to. So, if someone takes me there for free, it's fine. I got these offers this year also. But I was like, ‘I don't have ₹30-40 lakhs. I can't give that much.’ In ₹30 lakhs, I can go to 10 countries easily, alone. If I'm in business class with two people, I can visit at least four or five good countries. Why should I give it for Cannes?’ And neither does all that much happen there either. I've seen security staff there shooing everyone away. For that, I’ll pay ₹30 lakhs? No no.”
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With every year bringing a new barrage of creators to the Boulevard de la Croisette, it makes sense why Uorfi doesn’t want to be a part of the throng.
Uorfi also speaks about her stint on the reality series “The Traitors India”, which was quite the litmus test for her resilience. While she won the show alongside poker champion Nikita Luther, it wasn’t an easy win. Her clashes with fellow contestants Harsh Gujral and Apoorva Makhija (aka The Rebel Kid) made quite the headlines.
“Harsh was a friend and it was my strategy,” Uorfi explains. “I somehow knew he's a Traitor, and if I call him out now, then who will take me till the end of the game? And with Apoorva, I didn't handle it with grace. I was very, very angry at her. I could have slapped her then and there."
She continues her tirade against Makhija, “But then, after the show ended and we were giving interviews, I was very graceful. I didn't say anything bad about her. She said shit about me, something like, ‘I do not talk about people who are brainless, bimbo, short, etc.’ She said a lot of shit, but I didn't respond to any of it. I was like, ‘What’s even the point?’ Did it hurt me? Yes. Her words were very hurtful. And at that time, I felt that an army of her people were attacking me. It became very weird. But then thought, ‘Is it worth continuing this fight with her? Am I going to look back and be happy that I did this?’”
Convincing herself to simply enjoy her win rather than worry about others, she concludes, “I said to myself, ‘I want to be happy. Just fuck it.’ I just enjoyed my win. I told myself, ‘You know what, just enjoy your moment right now. Fuck what anyone else is saying.’”
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