Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez are facing instant backlash over their role in this year’s Met Gala, with anti-capitalist posters already plastered on lampposts and billboards near the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan. The signs call for a boycott of “The Bezos Met Gala... brought to you by worker exploitation.”
The outcry comes as the couple are footing most of the bill for the May 4 event in New York City, making them two of the most visible names attached to a night that has always sold itself as fashion’s biggest stage. Bezos, 62, is worth $224.2 billion, while Sanchez, 56, has been described by Anna Wintour as a “wonderful asset to the museum and the event.” Wintour, who has overseen the Met Gala for 30 years, also said, “We are very grateful for her incredible generosity” and “So we are thrilled she's part of the night.”
That endorsement has done little to quiet the criticism. Public anger began as soon as Bezos and Sanchez’s involvement was revealed, and one protester using the pseudonym Jane said the movement is gathering pace in New York. “We have had many volunteers get involved - already people have been ordering stickers to spread across New York and even hacking subway ads,” she said, adding that the group raised $13,500 in a single week.
Jane said the campaign is building because people are angry. “As people are murdered in an unnecessary war in Iran or being kidnapped by ICE, an oligarch who makes all of this possible is hosting a party to launder his image,” she said. She added, “We’re supposed to shut up and look at the dresses, but we can all see what’s behind the scenes: one of the many billionaires who keeps Trump’s evil empire in power.”
Daily Mail reported details of an audacious protester-led plot set for the night of May 4, with activists from the group Everyone Hates Elon saying they plan to humiliate and ridicule the Bezoses. Jane said she could not spell out every tactic, but pointed to the group’s past stunts, including taking Trump and Epstein photos to Windsor Castle when Trump was visiting and trolling Elon Musk with spoof Tesla ads while donating to trans rights and refugees every time he tweeted.
The Met Gala is always held on the first Monday in May, but this year the backlash has made the guest list part of the story before the red carpet is even rolled out. The question now is not whether the protest will happen, but how loudly it will follow Bezos and Sanchez into one of the fashion calendar’s most watched nights.