Which celebrities will walk the red carpet at the 2025 KY Derby? See our picks
They’re beauty, they’re grace, they’re maybe, hopefully, walking the red carpet at the 151st Kentucky Derby. That’s right, we’re back again this year with our picks, predictions and dreams for who we hope to see strut their stuff down the red carpet at Churchill Downs on Saturday.
This year marks the fourth time we, Herald-Leader reporters Monica Kast and Andrew Henderson, have covered the Derby red carpet. The truth is, you never know who might show up. This list is all in good fun, mixed with a little bit of dreaming and pop culture knowledge.
There are a few people we know will be at the Derby, and hope they also make a red carpet appearance. Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast in history, will make the Rider’s Up call this year, and will probably walk the red carpet. Grace Potter will sing the national anthem. Shaboozey, rapper and country singer, will headline the FanDuel Kentucky Derby Party, and also seems like a good candidate.
Another good indicator of who might walk the red carpet: those in attendance at the Barnstable Brown Kentucky Derby Eve Gala. Some of the celebrity guests attending the gala include Machine Gun Kelly, Travis Tritt, Tracy Morgan and Aaron Rodgers, among others.
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There are also the celebrities we can count on seeing each year, like Louisville native and rapper Jack Harlow and NSYNC’s Joey Fatone. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg also typically walk the red carpet.
But what about the long shots? The people whose chances of actually being there that day, the first Saturday in May, is so astronomically low we can only hope and dream about it? These are those people.
TV and film
▪ Jen Tullock
Andrew: Season two of “Severance” was a resounding success for Apple TV+. Since the season’s premiere in February of this year, the show netted 6.4 billion streaming minutes, according to data from Nielsen. Jen Tullock, a Louisville native, plays the character Devon Scout, sister of Mark Scout (portrayed by Adam Scott) in this workplace sci-fi thriller directed by Ben Stiller where the work is “mysterious and important.”
In the second season, Tullock’s character spent a lot of time doing what I would say are character beats to pick up on in the third season. Devon Scout is still a bit of an enigma which is why Tullock needs to swing on by the red carpet so I can pick her brain for what comes next.
▪ Josh Hutcherson
Andrew: Mr. Josh Hutcherson is enjoying a bit of a “renaissance” as Esquire magazine recently observed. The Union, Kentucky, native was involved in the launch of the Ritz-Carlton x Late Checkout capsule collection. He starred in a Hong Kong based short film for the campaign. More importantly, is the reprisal of his character Mike in “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2.” We’ve picked Jennifer Lawrence in past years so by picking Josh Hutcherson this year we’re all but ensuring that Jennifer Lawrence does show up this time.
Monica: When Andrew and I were making our first draft of red carpet picks, I thought about adding Josh Hutcherson but he didn’t make my final cut, because I thought it was too farfetched. But I’m taking it back, and I’m hoping he’s there. I’ve been a “Hunger Games” fan since middle school, and I recently read “Sunrise on the Reaping,” so I’ve been thinking about the franchise a lot lately. Josh Hutcherson, please! Come to the Derby!
▪ Joey Graziadei and Kelsey Anderson
Monica: We always see a few Bachelor Nation folks at the Derby — Bob Guiney is there every year, and in recent years, Kaitlyn Bristowe and Jason Tartick were there pre-breakup. Joey and Kelsey are the current darlings of “The Bachelor” franchise, though if I’m being honest, I didn’t watch Joey’s season. I did, however, watch Joey on “Dancing With the Stars,” and follow Kelsey on social media, and they seem like such a fun couple. They’ve been to a few major events in recent months — like Coachella, Mardi Gras and the Super Bowl — and I think they would have fun at the Derby!
Andrew: Listen, I have no idea who the people are Monica inevitably picks every year from “The Bachelor” or whatever other reality TV show she watches. I’m too busy watching whatever awful stuff I can find for free on Tubi. For example, have you ever seen “Mega Twister”? It’s about AI-generated tornadoes that ravage parts of the United Kingdom. It sucks, but it’s great.
▪ Quinta Brunson
Monica: I’m a huge fan of “Abbott Elementary” (perhaps it’s the years I’ve put in as an education reporter, or the fact that my mom and both grandmothers were teachers), so I’d love to see Quinta make an appearance. I feel like this is a good guess because we saw Sheryl Lee Ralph, who plays Barbara Howard on “Abbott Elementary,” walk the red carpet last year and was so lovely. Maybe she went back to set and told Quinta about how great it was, and Quinta wants to come see for herself. (OK, so after I wrote this, it was announced that Quinta will be hosting “Saturday Night Live” on Derby Day, so we definitely aren’t going to see her.)
Andrew: I would ask Quinta Brunson how to pivot from being part of an online media company to creating, starring in and executive producing a wildly successful TV series. No particular reason I would ask about this.
Musicians
▪ Nicole Scherzinger
Andrew: The lead singer of “The Pussycat Dolls,” who was raised in Louisville, is currently playing Norma Desmond in the Broadway revival of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s “Sunset Boulevard.” Scherzinger was most recently named to “Time” magazine’s most 100 influential people in 2025 where Patti LuPone, a Tony and Grammy award-winning actor and singer who played Norma in the original West End theater version of Sunset Boulevard, said Nicole’s performance was “courageous, audacious, mesmerizing, elegantly beautiful, and ultimately heartbreaking.” I highly doubt an appearance is possible given the show is currently running on Broadway, but maybe next year!
▪ Chris Stapleton
Monica: Chris Stapleton has had a huge rise to stardom in the last few years, but he got his start right here in Kentucky. Stapleton was born in Lexington and raised in Staffordsville, and he’s racked up 22 Grammy nominations in recent years. I thought he might be this year’s pick to sing the national anthem, but that will be Grace Potter. According to his tour dates listed on his website, he has a break in shows until the middle of May, the perfect amount of time to come to the races.
Andrew: Not only should Chris Stapleton come but he should bring Tyler Childers as both of them are headlining Healing Appalachia later this year in Ashland. Childers recently played to a sold-out crowd in Kroger Field, which is something UK football coach Mark Stoops may, unfortunately, not see often this season.
Athletes
▪ Travis and Jason Kelce
Monica: If you’ve read our red carpet predictions in the past, you won’t be surprised that I’ve once again picked someone linked to Taylor Swift. But this pick isn’t about Taylor (just wait), but because Travis Kelce came to the Derby last year and talked about what a good time it was. He then went on to talk about it on his “New Heights” podcast with brother Jason Kelce, who asked if they could go together and check out the infield. “That Derby is a hell of an event, man, and I’m definitely in for another run at it,” Travis said. “We’ll have to check out the infield next year.” (For the record, there’s no way the Kelce brothers could actually go to the infield without being mobbed, but there are plenty of other places to have fun at Churchill Downs.)
Andrew: Monica largely put this here to connect this to Taylor Swift, which she later just added a whole separate entry for anyway. That said, this prediction has merit regardless as Kelce bought shares of a Kentucky-bred racehorse last year.
▪ Lamar Jackson
Monica: If you know me, it may be surprising to see three athletes as picks of mine. But I grew up in Louisville, so I have a pretty good handle on who stays connected to the city. Lamar Jackson has had a great career since leaving the University of Louisville, and now is the quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens. He’s been to the Derby before, so we could see him again.
Wildcards
▪ Taylor Swift
Monica: Oh, what’s that, Monica is talking about Taylor Swift again? Yeah I am, and I’m going to keep guessing Taylor Swift until she shows up.
Louisville TV station WDRB had Swifties in a tizzy this month (myself included), when they announced that Taylor had donated items to the Unbridled Eve Derby Gala auction, including two tickets to “her upcoming 2026 tour.” The thing is, Taylor has not announced a tour for next year, and WDRB later clarified that information was sent to them in error. Taylor is not touring right now, like she was last year when Travis showed up solo to the Derby, so the timing lines up.
Andrew: Getting Taylor Swift at the Derby would be a larger logistical nightmare than most foreign dignitaries and it’s for that primary reason I don’t think this would happen. When (then former) President Donald Trump came to the Derby in 2022 he was accompanied by a gaggle of Kentucky State Police and FBI agents. I think a SWAT team may have to accompany Taylor Swift who would have to be airlifted in and out of Churchill Downs.
▪ George Clooney
Monica: George Clooney is someone we’ve guessed before, but he’s a huge star and hasn’t made an appearance in recent years. So why are we guessing him, yet again? Well, the Kentucky native has talked about Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear several times in the last year. Last summer, he listed Beshear as one of the democrats who could replace former President Joe Biden after Biden dropped out of the race. And then this month, Clooney listed Beshear as a Democrat who he’d support for president in 2028. He seems to have Kentucky on the mind in recent months.
Andrew: When I first saw the clip of George Clooney speaking with CNN’s Jake Tapper about what Democrat should run in 2028, I, and much of the internet had only one thing on our minds: What’s up with George Clooney’s hair? Clooney dyed his hair for his role in the Broadway show “Good Night, and Good Luck.” He stars as journalist Edward R. Murrow. He also has his own feelings about his new hair style. Anyway, he’s long overdue for a Derby appearance.
▪ Hirohiko Araki
Andrew: Hirohiko Araki is the manga (a Western comparison would be to comic books) artist behind long-running series “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.” You may be wondering, “What is that, and what does that have to do with the Kentucky Derby?” Oh, oh ho ho ho, more than you could ever imagine. “JoJo’s” has been serialized in Japan since 1987 and is broken up into a series of different parts that all focus on a separate, yet narratively interconnected, character in the series. It was recently announced that part seven of the series, Steel Ball Run, will be getting an anime adaption. This series follows the story of main character Johnny Joestar, a paraplegic former horse racing jockey born in Danville and a previous winner of the Kentucky Derby (at least in this fictional universe). Johnny, and others, are competing in the Steel Ball Run, a cross-country horse race set in the United States in 1890 with a $50 million grand prize on the line. Hi-jinks, dirty deeds done dirt cheap and other truly bizarre happenings, ensue.
Do you get it? Do you see the connection? Because to me it’s clear as day. Someone book a plane ticket for Hirohiko Araki and get that man to the Kentucky Derby.
This story was originally published April 29, 2025 at 7:00 AM.
