As fan chatter around the 2025 Met Gala continues, Action Network has analysed thousands of Reddit comments to uncover which athletes drew the most praise — and which drew the most critique.
Using custom Python scripts and NLP tools, data experts at Action Network analysed over 6,000 Reddit comments, filtering out irrelevant and toxic content to capture genuine fan sentiment and emotional reactions toward each athlete. A full methodology and dataset are available at the end of this release.
Top 5 Most Loved Athlete Outfits
| Rank | Athlete | Praise ratio (%) | Critique ratio (%) |
| 1 | Sabrina Ionescu | 71 | 21 |
| 2 | Breanna Stewart | 65 | 35 |
| 3 | Angel Reese | 64 | 35 |
| 4 | Jalen Hurts | 59 | 37 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | 52 | 44 |
Top 5 Most Critiqued Athlete Outfits
| Rank | Athlete | Critique ratio (%) | Praise ratio (%) |
| 1 | Saquon Barkley | 70 | 24 |
| 2 | Sha’Carri Richardson | 69 | 27 |
| 3 | Joe Burrow | 68 | 21 |
| 4 | Stefon Diggs | 65 | 34 |
| 5 | Simone Biles | 61 | 38 |
Sabrina Ionescu topped the praise rankings (71%), followed by Angel Reese (64%) and Lewis Hamilton (52%), whose Met Gala looks won over fans across Reddit. On the flip side, Saquon Barkley (70%) and Sha’Carri Richardson (69%) faced the highest levels of critique—while Joe Burrow drew not only heavy criticism (68%) but also the lowest praise score of just 21%
How Fans Really Felt: An Emotional Breakdown
To dig deeper, Action Network also analysed the emotional reactions behind the comments, using advanced language tools to pick up on feelings like joy, anger, and surprise. Here’s how fans emotionally responded to the athlete outfits:
| Athlete | Joy % | Anger % | Disgust % | Upset % | Surprise % |
| Sabrina Ionescu | 29.41 | 2.94 | 0 | 2.94 | 29.41 |
| Venus Williams | 46.25 | 1.25 | 5 | 3.75 | 8.75 |
| Breanna Stewart | 17.65 | 5.88 | 0 | 5.88 | 23.53 |
| Angel Reese | 24.58 | 2.54 | 5.08 | 1.7 | 18.64 |
| Russell Wilson | 25 | 0 | 16.67 | 8.33 | 16.67 |
| Jalen Hurts | 20.62 | 10.62 | 5.62 | 5.62 | 16.25 |
| Colin Kaepernick | 18.87 | 7.55 | 9.43 | 3.77 | 11.32 |
| Serena Williams | 24.04 | 7.69 | 15.38 | 9.62 | 9.62 |
| Lewis Hamilton | 16.16 | 3.55 | 8.7 | 6.4 | 12.97 |
| Simone Biles | 17.11 | 3.95 | 3.95 | 10.53 | 14.47 |
| Sha’Carri Richardson | 11.94 | 4.48 | 20.9 | 19.4 | 8.96 |
| Jonquel Jones | 17.02 | 6.38 | 10.64 | 2.84 | 14.18 |
| Stefon Diggs | 2.67 | 6.67 | 14 | 6.67 | 15.33 |
| Saquon Barkley | 6.38 | 11.67 | 16.15 | 5.02 | 12.21 |
| Joe Burrow | 5.13 | 6.41 | 14.1 | 8.97 | 12.82 |
When it comes to joy, Venus Williams led the way with 46.25% of fans expressing delight over her look. Meanwhile, Saquon Barkley drew the most anger (11.67%) and Sha’Carri Richardson sparked the highest levels of disgust (20.9%) and upset (19.4%) in the comments. On a more playful note, Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart triggered the most surprise, with 29.41% and 23.53% respectively reacting with genuine shock or awe.
You can find the full dataset along with the methodology – here.