The Met Gala has long been regarded as fashion’s biggest night, a global spectacle where celebrities compete for attention through dramatic couture, daring themes, and viral red carpet moments.
Every year, the conversation around the event usually centers on who served the boldest or most outrageous look. This year, however, the discourse has little to do with wardrobe.
Much of the spotlight is on billionaire Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez, who reportedly donated $10 million to the event as leading sponsors and honorary chairs.
Online critics, alongside a British protest group called Everyone Hates Elon, have accused the event of glorifying extreme wealth at a time of widening economic inequality. The controversy has also reignited criticism surrounding Amazon’s labor practices.
That anger has spilled onto the streets of New York City — home to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the venue for the Met Gala — in the form of posters, video projections, and more.
For the first time in years, Met is being overshadowed by political and socio-economic debate.
Image credits: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin
#1 Bezos X Ice
Everyone Hates Elon highlighted Amazon’s contractual ties to the controversial U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The group drew attention to how Amazon Web Services (AWS) powers technologies allegedly used for immigrant tracking and deportation, accusing the company of supporting what it describes as “ICE’s a**sive immigration enforcement.”
The backlash appeared across New York City through a series of posters. One depicted Jeff Bezos dressed in ICE gear, while another featured the Met Gala red carpet alongside the message: “Brought to you by the firm that powers ICE.”
© Photo: Instagram / Everyone Hates Elon
#2 Party Like Its 1939
Another series of posters, again attributed to Everyone Hates Elon, appeared across New York City carrying the slogan: “The Bezos Met Gala invites you to party like it’s 1939. Democracy is so last season. Dress code: willful ignorance.”
The campaign appeared to compare the growing influence of billionaires and right-wing politics to the rise of authoritarianism in the years before World War II. It also criticized the Met Gala for remaining disconnected from wider political and humanitarian concerns.
© Photo: X / Heather_P_NYC
#3 Urine Bottles
Hours before the Met Gala began, Everyone Hates Elon escalated their backlash against Bezos by hiding hundreds of bottles filled with fake urine inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The stunt was intended to highlight longstanding criticism of Amazon’s working conditions, including allegations that warehouse employees were forced to urinate into bottles due to limited bathroom breaks.
They also placed baskets of empty bottles outside the venue with signs mocking Bezos.
Jeff Bezos protesters are hiding hundreds of bottles of pee all over the Met Gala for the Jeff Bezos Met Gala takeover.Damn it’s going to smell in there. pic.twitter.com/kyEODr6qFU
— Suzie rizzio (@Suzierizzo1) May 2, 2026
© Photo: Instagram / Everyone Hates Elon
#4 Video Of An Amazon Worker In Bezos’s Penthouse
A video projected onto Jeff Bezos’s Madison Square penthouse on Sunday, May 3, featured testimony from 72-year-old Amazon warehouse worker Mary Hill, who claimed she struggled to live paycheck to paycheck while battling cancer.
Hill, based in Raleigh, is one of the co-founders of Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment, a labor group that advocates for fair wages and safer working conditions for Amazon employees.
In a message directed at the Met Gala, Hill urged organizers to honor Amazon workers rather than Bezos, whom she accused of evading taxes and supporting Trump.
The projection also featured messages reading: “Boycott Bezos Met Gala,” “No red carpet for Trump billionaires,” and “If you can buy the Met Gala, you can pay more taxes.”
Activist projects a message for Jeff Bezos from Mary, a 72 year old Amazon worker from North Carolina pic.twitter.com/Ktm3u52nRw
— chiky handler (@chiky_handlr) May 4, 2026
© Photo: Isa Farfan / Hyperallergic
#5 Livia Firth
Ex wife of Colin Firth tells Anna Wintour she is “heartbroken” she allowed Jeff Bezos to sponsor the Met Gala.
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) May 4, 2026
Livia Firth has branded the Amazon founder “one of the most dangerous men in the world” while comparing the Met Gala to ‘The Hunger Games.’ pic.twitter.com/YuJQVUQMCp
