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‘Evil’ Jeff Bezos Accused of Ruining Met Gala

The event is usually one of the year’s biggest and most sought-after affairs. This year, many A-listers skipped it altogether.

Roosa RahkonenReporter, The Looker

PublishedMay 6, 2026, 3:41 PM EDT

UpdatedMay 7, 2026, 12:14 PM EDT

Updated May 7, 2026, 12:14 PM EDTPublished May 6, 2026, 3:41 PM EDT

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Blowback over billionaire Jeff Bezos‘s involvement in the Met Gala continues to grow amid accusations that he “ruined” the annual fashionable fête.

The Amazon founder and his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, reportedly bought their way to the so-called “Super Bowl of fashion” by dropping a rumored $10 million to become the main funders of the 2026 Met Gala and attend the event as honorary chairs.

“In 2026, there is no shortage of material to inspire rage against the Bezos family,” Christina Cauterucci writes in a Slate essay titled “I Used to Love the Met Gala. Then the World’s Most Evil Couple Ruined It for Everyone.”

The alleged sins of Bezos include complaints of poor working conditions among Amazon workers, “shameless” sucking up to President Donald J. Trump, and “ruthless accumulation of billions” of dollars as average citizens increasingly struggle to afford basic necessities.

“As such,” Cauterucci continues, “in the lead-up to the party, there were whispers that some invitees would boycott the gala in protest.”

Before the gala, protesters left hundreds of plastic bottles filled with yellow liquid around the Metropolitan Museum of Art to call attention to the allegations that Amazon workers are forced to urinate in bottles.

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“Boycott the Bezos Met Gala” signs also filled the streets of New York City and were even projected onto buildings.

On Monday, protesters gathered outside the museum with signs calling for a boycott.

For many online spectators, another notable shift that dimmed the night’s glamour was the guest list, which they suspected was heavily influenced by Bezos’s involvement.

Many A-list celebrities were missing from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s famed steps, including 16-time Grammy winner Lady Gaga.

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Actresses Zendaya and Meryl Streep also skipped the event, citing busy schedules, while supermodel Bella Hadid liked a social media post calling for a boycott of the Bezos-backed Gala.

Instead of these big fashion names, the carpet was walked by executives of technology companies like Snapchat, Instagram, and OpenAI.

Tech billionaires Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and Google co-founder Sergey Brin also made their Met Gala debuts.

A-listers were noticeably absent from the opening ceremony as well.

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The Met Gala usually starts with the evening’s co-chairs arriving first and watching the opening number together.

This year, the co-chairs were Anna Wintour, Nicole Kidman, Beyoncé, and Venus Williams—but only two of the women, Wintour and Kidman, stood next to Sánchez on the carpet during the opening number.

Beyoncé and Williams arrived later, separately walking the steps with their partners, and Beyoncé also skipped the group picture with the other co-chairs.

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As pictures of Sánchez were shared online, her look—consisting of a navy-blue custom Schiaparelli gown and dangling diamond earrings—drew heavy criticism.

Some commenters were in disbelief that the dress was from the French Haute Couture house known for its surreal, artistic designs, and instead guessed it was from the fast-fashion brand SheIn.

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“Did she get this from Amazon?” Read the top comment on Vogue’s Instagram.

Sánchez’s style inspiration, according to her representative, was John Singer Sargent’s “Madame X."

Online commentators, however, called Sánchez out for wearing the exact same silhouette she always wore— extremely tight, low-cut, and corseted—and for choosing shiny, “cheap-looking” fabric rather than the crushed velvet worn by Cate Blanchett in her interpretation of the famous portrait.

Typically, the Met Gala is an opportunity for designers and A-listers to experiment with new styles, and this year’s theme, “Fashion Is Art,” called for creative outfits. Bezos did not walk the stairs with Sánchez, but joined her inside.

Wintour, who has been photographed with Sánchez on several occasions, defended her controversial participation in the Gala.

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The former American Vogue editor in chief told CNN that Sánchez was a “great lover of costume and obviously of fashion,” adding, “We’re very grateful for her incredible generosity, so we’re thrilled she’s part of the night.”

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The criticism and calls for a boycott did not affect the financial end results of the annual charity event.

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This year, the tickets were $100,000 each.

At Monday’s press event, the museum’s director, Max Hollein, shared that the 2026 Gala broke fundraising records and was estimated to bring in $42 million for the Costume Institute.

Roosa RahkonenReporter, The Looker

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