Surprise Met Gala Proposal: Laurie Cumbo, Former BK Leader, Says 'Yes'

BROOKLYN, NY — Many people turned heads at the Met Gala Monday night, but only one person got down on a knee.

While ascending the Metropolitan Museum of Art stairs-turned-red-carpet, Laurie Cumbo, the city's recently-appointed commissioner of cultural affairs, got engaged to her partner, Bobby Digi Olisa, former New York State Assembly candidate.

In a moment captured by hundreds of cameras, Digi Olisa dropped to a knee and pulled out a Tiffany's ring box as onlookers cheered "say yes!" Cumbo, looking shocked and emotional, did just that.

Shortly after, in an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Cumbo said she didn't see the proposal coming.

"I didn’t know it was going to happen tonight," she said, adding that this is a testament to her partnership with Digi Olisa. "We've been through so much, and this is such an honor and this is such a blessing."

Cumbo, who held a career in the arts before entering politics as a Fort Greene Council Member, said that getting engaged at the Met — where she interned at the age of 15 — was particularly meaningful.

"Now I’m coming back with my now [fiancé] as the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and it’s an honor to be here tonight," she told Entertainment Tonight.

Cumbo's new title, while a point of pride, was also a matter of contention.

When the now-commissioner was tapped for her role, citywide leaders and immigrant rights advocates spoke out against her, primarily criticizing "anti immigrant" remarks that she made in response to a non-citizen voting bill (which she opposed on the basis that many immigrants voted for Donald Trump in 2020).

Cumbo later clarified those remarks, citing concern of "diluting" Black voters' power. She's also apologized in the past for other racially insensitive and anti-Semitic remarks made during her eight-year tenure in local government.

The controversy surrounding Cumbo, though, is just one of several instances in which Adams faced scrutiny for his appointments: in February a large coalition, including City Council Members, pushed back against two mayoral appointments, citing anti-gay-marriage statements that both had made in the past.