{"id":225647,"date":"2026-05-09T12:08:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T12:08:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/225647\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T12:08:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T12:08:28","slug":"met-gala-branded-as-tacky-nycs-upper-crust-walk-away-sources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/225647\/","title":{"rendered":"Met Gala branded as \u2018tacky\u2019, NYC\u2019s upper crust walk away: Sources"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: This article has been amended to clarify a quote attribution.<\/p>\n

(NewsNation<\/a>) \u2014 I\u2019m told by several ladies in NYC\u2019s social set that, despite being given the \u201chonor\u201d of being asked to be part of the Gala Committee (for which they would have had to sign a $100,000 check), they declined.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just didn\u2019t seem the thing to do,\u201d one socialite sniffed at the Frederick Law Olmstead Awards<\/a> for Central Park Conservatory Luncheon on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

NYC elite avoid the Met Gala<\/p>\n

\u201c(The Gala has) just become something other than what it used to be. So many celebrities, and no one knows anything about fashion or the museum or why they\u2019re there except to be photographed. It\u2019s now just a bad competition for oneupsmanship.\u201d<\/p>\n

More social types, who attended Gillian Hearst\u2019s birthday party at TSquared Social last week (all of whom think nothing of dropping $100,000 a ticket or $375,000 for a table), echoed the same sentiment.<\/p>\n

As another said it more succinctly: \u201c(The Gala) has just become so tacky.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"2026<\/p>\n

Nicole Kidman, Lauren S\u00e1nchez Bezos and Anna Wintour attend the 2026 Met Gala celebrating \u201cCostume Art\u201d at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 04, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\"Kris<\/p>\n

US television personality Kris Jenner arrives for the 2026 Met Gala celebrating \u201cCostume Art\u201d at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York, on May 4, 2026. (Photo by Angela Weiss \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\"Zoe<\/p>\n

Zoe Kravitz arrives at The Metropolitan Museum of Art\u2019s Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the \u201cCostume Art\u201d exhibition on Monday, May 4, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini\/Invision\/AP)<\/p>\n

\"Connor<\/p>\n

Connor Storrie arrives at The Metropolitan Museum of Art\u2019s Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the \u201cCostume Art\u201d exhibition on Monday, May 4, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini\/Invision\/AP)<\/p>\n

\"Hudson<\/p>\n

Hudson Williams arrives at The Metropolitan Museum of Art\u2019s Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the \u201cCostume Art\u201d exhibition on Monday, May 4, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini\/Invision\/AP)<\/p>\n

\"Cher<\/p>\n

Cher arrives at The Metropolitan Museum of Art\u2019s Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the \u201cCostume Art\u201d exhibition on Monday, May 4, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini\/Invision\/AP)<\/p>\n

And while the event did raise a record $42 million for the Metropolitan Museum of Art\u2019s Costume Institute, most of the money came from the \u201ctech-bro\u201d crowd, like Bezos, Meta\u2019s Mark Zuckerberg, Snapchat\u2019s founder Evan Spiegel, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri, Google cofounder Sergey Brin and OpenAI\u2019s head of partnerships, Charles Porch.<\/p>\n

Met Gala \u2018has turned into the VMA\u2019s\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not even this year,\u201d another wealthy woman said. \u201cThe past few years, the Gala has turned into the VMA\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

MTV\u2019s Music Video Awards are considered the height of gauche in upper-crust circles.<\/p>\n

Katie Pavlich says hypocritical Hollywood elites are practicing \u2018champagne socialism\u2019 <\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIn search for money and her own clout, Anna (Wintour) has turned the Gala into a corporate event that no one wants to go to except some low-brow celebrities and tech bros. No, thank you,\u201d\u00a0an insider said about the annual event.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot since the Gilded Age era of Vanderbilts et al have we seen such monarchistic efforts of the rich to get over their way. Very Bertha Russell reminiscent in the Gilded Age (HBO) if you\u2019ve been watching that show,\u201d former Vogue editor and society chronicler, William Norwich, said on Instagram<\/a>. \u201cThe conflict between art and money goes back to the Medicis, and it won\u2019t end with the Bezoses or corporations like LVMH and Philip Morris. How artists and philanthropic institutions such as the Met deal and negotiate that tension is its own kind of art form.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Hollywood to the royal family, \u201cThe Scoop\u201d delivers smart, insider revelations on celebrity news, scandals,\u00a0style\u00a0and culture with Paula Froelich.\u00a0Subscribe to her newsletter here.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

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