{"id":433694,"date":"2026-05-05T16:57:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T16:57:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/433694\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T16:57:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T16:57:24","slug":"bezos-backed-met-gala-was-marked-by-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/433694\/","title":{"rendered":"Bezos-Backed Met Gala Was Marked By Protests"},"content":{"rendered":"

As celebrities wearing extravagant fashions trickled into Monday\u2019s Met Gala<\/a>, Elle Feneide balanced atop a police barricade across the street and held a sign for the high-profile guests and Jeff Bezos, one of the evening\u2019s biggest backers. It said: \u201cYour red carpet is stained with BLOOD.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 21-year-old protester, who towered above screaming onlookers as stars arrived at the event, told HuffPost that the recent death<\/a> of an Amazon<\/a> warehouse worker (among other reported<\/a> human rights abuses at the company) was part of the motivation behind her demonstration.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that if you shake hands with murderers, there\u2019s blood on your hands, too,\u201d said Feneide. \u201cEverybody involved with the Met Gala this year has made a kind of endorsement of his actions and the systematic violence that he perpetrates.\u201d<\/p>\n

The controversy around labor practices at Amazon was among the hot topics on the New York City streets as Bezos and his wife, model Lauren S\u00e1nchez Bezos<\/a>, chopped it up with the big-name invitees who were obscured by the walls of the Met, the tent around the red carpet and the layers of police and security surrounding the museum\u2019s perimeter.<\/p>\n

\"AA person put up a “BOYCOTT THE BEZOS MET GALA” poster in New York City last month.<\/p>\n

Angela Weiss\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\"LaurenLauren S\u00e1nchez Bezos takes the red carpet at the 2026 Met Gala amid controversy around her and her husband’s involvement.<\/p>\n

ANGELA WEISS via Getty Images<\/p>\n

It was almost inevitable that the gala \u2014 the site of several<\/a> protests<\/a> in<\/a> recent years<\/a> \u2014 would face backlash this time around after the couple was announced as lead sponsors<\/a> and later crowned honorary chairs for the Costume Institute\u2019s premier fundraising f\u00eate. (Page Six reported<\/a> the couple paid \u201cat least $10 million.\u201d)<\/p>\n

The sharp reactions made sense to fashion journalist Amy Odell, who told HuffPost about the baggage that comes with a spectacle that \u201cinvites the public to celebrate and gaze upon some of the most privileged people in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been tough, optically, for the gala as people have been thinking more about income inequality since the pandemic,\u201d explained Odell, who is also the biographer of longtime gala chair Anna Wintour. \u201cThe gala is very opulent and lavish, so having the basis to pay for it doesn\u2019t do anything to make that less pronounced.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ProtestersProtesters with Rise and Resist, a New York-based, self-described \u201cnonviolent action group,” staged a “Resistance Red Carpet” just blocks from the entrance of the Met on Monday.<\/p>\n

While Bezos defenders have noted that the gala serves as a critical fundraising tool for the museum (raising a record $31 million<\/a> in 2025), there\u2019s no doubt that presiding over the event offers an invaluable return on investment. In her Back Row newsletter last month, Odell described<\/a> the Met as a \u201cclosed-door networking event\u201d for fashion figures, donors and entertainers that\u2019s morphed into a \u201cbig-box clout store\u201d for deep pockets hoping to amplify their cultural cachet.<\/p>\n

Veteran chair and Vogue magazine visionary Wintour brushed off questions around the backlash<\/a> about the couple\u2019s involvement in the gala, telling CNN<\/a> that S\u00e1nchez Bezos is simply a \u201cgreat lover of costume and obviously of fashion.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a subsequent CNN interview<\/a>, Max Hollein \u2014 the Met\u2019s director and CEO \u2014 described the gala as part of \u201cthe history of American philanthropy,\u201d where those from across the political spectrum can support culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, maybe there\u2019s an added layer of scrutiny, an added layer of attention to that,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we will always be grateful for that support from various different sources.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AnnaAnna Wintour (left) and Lauren S\u00e1nchez Bezos (center) attend the press conference for the 2026 Met Gala celebrating “Costume Art” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday in New York City.<\/p>\n

Roy Rochlin via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Along with Wintour, this year\u2019s other co-chairs included Beyonc\u00e9, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams \u2014 which made it a hard-to-miss event even for those who may object to Bezos, his support of Trump 2.0<\/a>, Amazon spending tens of millions of dollars<\/a> on union busting and his decision to hobble<\/a> journalists\u2019 work<\/a> as the owner of The Washington Post.<\/p>\n

When HuffPost asked about the backlash, the Met did not respond.<\/p>\n

\u2018Ending the oligarchy\u2019<\/p>\n

Roughly two dozen protesters from Rise and Resist, a New York-based, self-described \u201cnonviolent action group,\u201d staged a \u201cResistance Red Carpet\u201d where they donned sparkly, colorful (and sometimes cartoonishly \u201crich\u201d) outfits just blocks from the Met\u2019s steps. They unfurled a red carpet on the street to strut their stuff to messages against ICE and to sound the alarm on Bezos\u2019 support for President Donald Trump<\/a>, whom was described in one sign as a \u201cpedophile, racist and traitor.\u201d<\/p>\n

At one point, the pop-up gala\u2019s guests broke out into a carol that repeated the word \u201cEpstein,\u201d a nod to the late convicted sex offender whose old buddy, Trump, accepted a seven-figure, inauguration fund donation from the Bezos-founded company.<\/p>\n

\"ProtestersProtesters pose on a pop-up red carpet and hold up letters to read “TAX THE RICH” outside the Met Gala on Monday.<\/p>\n

Wendy Brandes sported a Mother Nature-inspired fit and fake money-covered paper headwear that read \u201cTAX THE RICH\u201d and \u201cWHITE MEN RUIN EVERYTHING.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe billionaires are destroying everything. That\u2019s why they\u2019re trying to get off the planet because they know how bad they are,\u201d said the 58-year-old New Yorker, in a nod to the Bezos-backed Blue Origin Enterprises.<\/p>\n

\"WendyWendy Brandes, 58, rocks a sparkly Mother Nature-inspired fit with paper headwear that reads “TAX THE RICH” just blocks from the steps of the Met.\"ProtestersProtesters Andrew Boyd (left) and Schuyler deVos (right) mock Jeff Bezos and his billionaire friends by holding signs that read “BLOOD FOR OIL” and “NET WORTH IS SELF-WORTH” along with the shared message “TRILLIONAIRES FOR TRUMP” outside the Met Gala.<\/p>\n

Calls to boycott the event escalated in April after U.K.-based protest group Everyone Hates Elon launched a scathing campaign aimed at Bezos. The group claimed responsibility for installing posters<\/a> across New York City calling out the billionaire for avoiding taxes<\/a> and suggesting the gala was turning a blind eye to his support<\/a> for the president.<\/p>\n

One version declared that \u201cAMAZON POWERS ICE\u201d while another said that the \u201cBezos Met Gala\u201d is \u201cbrought to you by worker exploitation,\u201d nods to Amazon\u2019s reported contractual ties<\/a> to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as its workers\u2019 allegations<\/a> of exploitative labor conditions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the grand affair, the group also left faux \u201cpee bottles\u201d<\/a> with Bezos\u2019 face around and outside the Met<\/a> while covertly stocking the museum gift shop<\/a> with commemorative plates labeling the billionaire-backed gala as \u201cthe world\u2019s most expensive midlife crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now feels like a very important time to spread a message about taxing the rich and ending the oligarchy around Donald Trump,\u201d said one of the group\u2019s founders, who requested not to be identified due to the fact that their demonstrations often involve unlawful vandalism. \u201cI think it\u2019s really important to point out that this lifestyle for [Bezos] is only made possible by him scrounging off the rest of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AnAn “AMAZON POWERS ICE” poster is displayed at a bus stop in New York City’s Manhattan borough last week.<\/p>\n

Timothy A. Clary\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

On Sunday, the group \u2014 in an act backed by the Amazon Labor Union, founded in 2022 after a massive election victory<\/a> in New York City \u2014 projected their calls to boycott the gala onto Bezos\u2019 Manhattan penthouse,<\/a> where the likes of Wintour, Venus and Serena Williams, as well as Kris and Kendall Jenner<\/a>, partied it up<\/a> the day before.<\/p>\n

Video messages from Amazon employees, including one from<\/a> Mary Hill, a 72-year-old worker at a warehouse in Raleigh, N.C., also flashed on the building\u2019s facade.<\/p>\n

On the morning of the gala, the Met\u2019s union took to social media and shared pictures<\/a> of the Amazon founder and his wife, Lauren S\u00e1nchez Bezos, to highlight workers\u2019 desire for a \u201cliving wage,\u201d noting in a social media post that 19% of its unit makes less annually than the cost of a ticket to last year\u2019s gala.<\/p>\n

Everyone Hates Elon\u2019s founder is familiar with crashing Bezos\u2019 parties before.<\/p>\n

After starting the collective as a movement against tech mogul Elon Musk in 2025, the group set its sights on the Amazon tycoon last year, when it unfurled a massive banner<\/a> in Venice, Italy, calling on him to pay more in taxes ahead of his estimated multimillion-dollar<\/a> wedding in The Floating City.<\/p>\n

One prominent New Yorker was notably absent from the gala: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani,<\/a> a Democratic socialist who used his campaign to criticize the billionaire class. Mamdani recently told local outlet <\/a>The Hell Gate<\/a> that, instead of attending the gala as mayors before him have, he would skip the event to focus on \u201cmaking the most expensive city in the United States affordable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former New York City mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa (R) was spotted walking along the Central Park road behind the Met, telling HuffPost he was \u201ccounting the number of cops\u201d who were \u201cprotecting the billionaires\u201d at the gala.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose people are totally indulgent, selfish \u2014,\u201d Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels and a Republican who lost to Zohran Mamdani in last year\u2019s NYC mayoral election, said about the guests inside. \u201cWhat are we doing for the homeless here? Why don\u2019t they go into the subways?\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked whether he would have attended the gala had he won the election, Sliwa emphatically said he would have skipped the event, much like the mayor.<\/p>\n

The priciest table in town<\/p>\n

Odell stressed there\u2019s a \u201creal benefit\u201d to getting invited to the gala, which Bezos has a long history with. The Amazon founder previously served as honorary chair when his company sponsored the gala in 2012, when tickets reportedly sat<\/a> at $25,000 a pop. At the time, he had his sights on making a \u201csignificant\u201d investment<\/a> to bring high-end fashion to Amazon, which one analyst predicted would make the company a \u201chuge threat to brands.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the years since, leaders at Blackstone, Meta and TikTok have held the honorary chair title after they or their respective companies backed the gala. <\/p>\n

This year\u2019s gala \u2014 with tickets now hitting $100,000 each (a figure that doesn\u2019t include tables, which start<\/a> around $350,000) \u2014 arrives as tech\u2019s top dogs like anti-aging entrepreneur Bryan Johnson<\/a> and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg<\/a> and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have found their footing on runways and at fashion shows.<\/p>\n

To many, Bezos and his wife\u2019s heavy involvement in the event was just additional evidence of tech billionaires trying to pry open the door to the fashion industry. Monday\u2019s gala carved a space for Silicon Valley, making way for Zuckerberg<\/a> and reserving tables for OpenAI, Meta, Snap, Shopify and Amazon, Vanity Fair noted<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201dI think there\u2019s a real interest in being seen in that context, I think they really view the fashion world as a way to seek female adoption,\u201d Odell said of tech giants and their companies ingratiating themselves at the gala.<\/p>\n

Wintour, who has served as gala chair all but one time since 1995, has built a friendship<\/a> with the Amazon founder and his model wife in recent years.<\/p>\n

\"JeffJeff Bezos and his sister-in-law Elena Sanchez Blair attend the Met Gala on Monday.<\/p>\n

Arturo Holmes\/MG26\/Getty Images for The Met Museum\/Vogue<\/p>\n

On the day of S\u00e1nchez Bezos\u2019 marriage to the Amazon founder, the model-turned-journalist-turned-socialite graced the digital cover story of Vogue, an editorial decision that led to backlash of its own<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The story was published just a day after Wintour announced she\u2019d be stepping away<\/a> from her role as editor-in-chief of the magazine after 37 years.<\/p>\n

Odell, in a recent episode<\/a> of the KCRW\u2019s \u201cThe Sam Sanders Show,\u201d likened the industry \u201ccoming around\u201d to S\u00e1nchez Bezos to how Kim Kardashian was welcomed, pointing to the outcry over Kardashian\u2019s Vogue cover with Kanye West ahead of their 2014 wedding.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we\u2019re seeing the industry start to accept her more and sometimes, it\u2019s the fashion industry that accepts these people and the public follows,\u201d she said of S\u00e1nchez Bezos.<\/p>\n

Odell told HuffPost ahead of the gala that she\u2019s certain protesters\u2019 message would \u201chang heavy in the air\u201d on Monday.<\/p>\n

Feneide pointed to celebrities\u2019 \u201clargely performative\u201d acts of protest while simultaneously prioritizing \u201cprofits over people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYour actions speak louder than words; your choice to be here was a conscious choice instead of saying, \u2018No, I\u2019m not going to participate in your system of violence,\u2019\u201d she said. <\/p>\n