{"id":199095,"date":"2026-04-16T10:27:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T10:27:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/199095\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T10:27:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T10:27:15","slug":"boycott-the-bezos-met-gala-posters-emerge-across-nyc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/199095\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cBoycott the Bezos Met Gala\u201d Posters Emerge Across NYC"},"content":{"rendered":"

News<\/a><\/p>\n

The signs protest the sponsors of this year\u2019s event, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanch\u00e9z, and target Amazon’s alleged worker exploitation and links to ICE. <\/p>\n


\n \"Rhea
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

\"\u201cBoycott
\n A poster spotted on Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (photo Valentina Di Liscia\/Hyperallergic)<\/p>\n

The Met Gala is coming in less than three weeks, and while the annual event has always drawn some form of protest or criticism for its theme, attendees, and context in the grand scheme of things, this year already feels a little on the nose. In posters wheatpasted across New York City, activists are calling for a boycott<\/a> of the 2026 event, whose lead sponsors, Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos and Lauren S\u00e1nchez, have also been appointed honorary co-chairs<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The posters take aim at Amazon’s alleged exploitation of warehouse and delivery labor, as well as the company’s links to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) through its cloud computing platform, Amazon Web Services (AWS). <\/p>\n

Behind the poster designs is the British political activism campaign Everyone Hates Elon, which made them available as free downloadable<\/a> files for people who want to continue sharing the message. A press release from the group notes that it was able to crowd-source over $10,000 in a week to finance its cross-city sweep to \u201cexpose and embarrass Jeff Bezos\u201d ahead of the gala.<\/p>\n

\"\"Wheatpasting in progress with larger-than-life posters protesting the Met Gala (photo courtesy Everyone Hates Elon)<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are being murdered by ICE.\u00a0Iran is being bombed. Democratic institutions are being dismantled,\u201d a spokesperson for the group emphasized in a press statement. \u201cYet Anna Wintour\u2019s Vogue and the Met Museum think it’s OK to celebrate one of Trump\u2019s oligarchs.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to its original target, Elon Musk, the Everyone Hates Elon has staged multiple viral stunts targeting Bezos and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg in their calls to tax the rich. The campaign has also taken repeated aim at Donald Trump<\/a> and the disgraced Prince Andrew for their connection to Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n

The designs depict a stanchioned red carpet and camera flashes spotlighting a urine-filled plastic water bottle or a tear gas canister. The former references the long-standing concern that many Amazon delivery drivers often resort to relieving themselves in disposable water bottles<\/a> in order to meet the company’s demanding daily quotas. The company initially denied the fact<\/a> when called on it via social media, but later partially admitted to its truth<\/a> by framing the problem through the lens of public restroom accessibility. <\/p>\n

\"\"Posters targeting the 2026 Met Gala’s co-sponsors, Jeff Bezos and Lauren S\u00e1nchez, wheatpasted in Brooklyn (photo Valentina Di Liscia\/Hyperallergic)<\/p>\n

The symbol has since come to represent the broader exploitation of Amazon’s workforce. In addition to long-held accusations of union-busting behavior<\/a>, the company has been accused of conducting business as usual in a warehouse after the death of an employee on-site<\/a> \u2014 one such instance allegedly occurred in Oregon last week<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Accompanying the tagline \u201cbrought to you by the firm that powers ICE,\u201d the tear gas canister points to how the federal agency relies on cloud storage through AWS<\/a> to host its data in order to operate and conduct mass deportations at its current scale.<\/p>\n

It’s unclear how effective the campaign’s call to boycott the Met Gala will be this year. In 2024, dozens of pro-Palestine protestors were arrested<\/a> during a group action outside of the event, which catalyzed a \u201cCelebrity Block Party<\/a>\u201d to diminish the impact of celebrity influence in response to industry silence on Gaza.<\/p>\n

Regardless, some critics note in the comments of Everyone Hates Elon’s Instagram posts that boycotting the Bezos-sponsored Gala must be followed by boycotting Amazon itself for any shred of efficacy. <\/p>\n