- The Washington Times - Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Actress Dakota Johnson was just one celebrity caught on camera disregarding the Big Apple’s smoking ban during a star-studded event held Monday night in New York City.

A Snapchat photo of Ms. Johnson, taken by British singer Rita Ora and obtained by the Daily Mail newspaper, shows the “50 Shades” star lighting up a cigarette in what appears to be a smoke-filled bathroom. The photograph was taken during the annual Met Gala, a fundraiser for the city’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Other Met-attending celebrities caught smoking in the girls room, so to speak, were Bella Hadid, musician Courtney Love and her daughter Frances Bean Cobain, the Daily Mail said.

New York City’s strict indoor smoking ban, instituted by then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a longtime critic of the tobacco industry, was put into effect in March 2003. In 2011, a similarly strict outdoor smoking ban went into effect governing the city’s parks and pedestrian plazas, including its most iconic one, Times Square.

Per the city’s ban, violators face the prospect of a $100 fine, the Daily Mail noted, adding that young smokers like Ms. Hadid, who is only 20, may have violated city law if they purchased their smokes in the city in violation of an ordinance requiring buyers to be at least 21 years of age.

Of course, a C-note is a drop in a bucket for most everyone in attendance at the Met Monday night. According to The New York Times, a ticket to the coveted event set back attendees $30,000.

• Ken Shepherd can be reached at kshepherd@washingtontimes.com.

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