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The Met Gala has long been regarded as fashion’s biggest night, a global spectacle where celebrities compete for attention through dramatic couture, daring themes, and viral red carpet moments.

Every year, the conversation around the event usually centers on who served the boldest or most outrageous look. This year, however, the discourse has little to do with wardrobe.

Much of the spotlight is on billionaire Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez, who reportedly donated $10 million to the event as leading sponsors and honorary chairs.

Online critics, alongside a British protest group called Everyone Hates Elon, have accused the event of glorifying extreme wealth at a time of widening economic inequality. The controversy has also reignited criticism surrounding Amazon’s labor practices.

That anger has spilled onto the streets of New York City — home to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the venue for the Met Gala — in the form of posters, video projections, and more. 

For the first time in years, Met is being overshadowed by political and socio-economic debate.

Image credits: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin

This post may include affiliate links.

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Livia Firth

Sustainability activist and fashion commentator Livia Firth (the former wife of actor Colin Firth) also criticized the event. 

In a video shared on Instagram, she questioned Met chairperson Anna Wintour’s decision to accept donations from Bezos.

Calling Bezos “one of the most unethical people in the world,” Firth pointed to Amazon’s ties to ICE, support for Trump’s inauguration, and criticism from workers over labor practices. 

She described Wintour’s association with Bezos as “heartbreaking,” arguing that the Met Gala was beginning to resemble “a dystopian version of the Hunger Games” — a showcase of fortune and extravagance hidden behind elaborate costumes.

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    #2

    Bezos X Ice

    A street poster depicts Jeff Bezos in a police vest, promoting MET Gala protesting acts. Text says "Amazon Powers ICE" and "Boycott the Bezos Met Gala."

    Everyone Hates Elon highlighted Amazon’s contractual ties to the controversial U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

    The group drew attention to how Amazon Web Services (AWS) powers technologies allegedly used for immigrant tracking and deportation, accusing the company of supporting what it describes as “ICE’s a**sive immigration enforcement.”

    The backlash appeared across New York City through a series of posters. One depicted Jeff Bezos dressed in ICE gear, while another featured the Met Gala red carpet alongside the message: “Brought to you by the firm that powers ICE.”

    Instagram / Everyone Hates Elon Report

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    #3

    Party Like Its 1939

    A "MET Gala" protest poster on a bus stop, featuring Jeff Bezos and text about partying like 1939.

    Another series of posters, again attributed to Everyone Hates Elon, appeared across New York City carrying the slogan: “The Bezos Met Gala invites you to party like it’s 1939. Democracy is so last season. Dress code: willful ignorance.”

    The campaign appeared to compare the growing influence of billionaires and right-wing politics to the rise of authoritarianism in the years before World War II. It also criticized the Met Gala for remaining disconnected from wider political and humanitarian concerns.

    X / Heather_P_NYC Report

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    #4

    Urine Bottles

    Bottles labeled Boycott The Bezos Met Gala, some near a statue, showing protesting acts at the MET Gala.

    Hours before the Met Gala began, Everyone Hates Elon escalated their backlash against Bezos by hiding hundreds of bottles filled with fake urine inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

    The stunt was intended to highlight longstanding criticism of Amazon’s working conditions, including allegations that warehouse employees were forced to urinate into bottles due to limited bathroom breaks. 

    They also placed baskets of empty bottles outside the venue with signs mocking Bezos.


    Instagram / Everyone Hates Elon Report

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    #5

    Video Of An Amazon Worker In Bezos’s Penthouse

    Various protest messages projected onto buildings at night, targeting the MET Gala, including calls to pay more tax and boycott Bezos.

    A video projected onto Jeff Bezos’s Madison Square penthouse on Sunday, May 3, featured testimony from 72-year-old Amazon warehouse worker Mary Hill, who claimed she struggled to live paycheck to paycheck while battling cancer.

    Hill, based in Raleigh, is one of the co-founders of Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment, a labor group that advocates for fair wages and safer working conditions for Amazon employees.

    In a message directed at the Met Gala, Hill urged organizers to honor Amazon workers rather than Bezos, whom she accused of evading taxes and supporting Trump.

    The projection also featured messages reading: “Boycott Bezos Met Gala,” “No red carpet for Trump billionaires,” and “If you can buy the Met Gala, you can pay more taxes.”


    Isa Farfan / Hyperallergic Report

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