Met Gala 2026 opens with stars, Bezos backing stirs protest fears

The Met Gala opened with the kind of celebrity density only New York can stage, but this year the red carpet was shadowed by something less glamorous: a backlash to Jeff Bezos’s presence at fashion’s biggest fundraiser. Anti-Bezos posters went up across Manhattan in the days before the event, and the mood around the Costume Institute Benefit had shifted from pure spectacle to a wider argument over billionaire influence.

The annual gala, held on the first Monday in May, remains the Costume Institute’s primary source of funding for exhibitions, publications, acquisitions, and operations. This year’s edition was tied to Costume Art, the spring exhibition that opens to the public on May 10 and runs through January 10, 2027. The show fills the Met’s nearly 12,000-square-foot Condé M. Nast Galleries next to the Great Hall with nearly 400 objects, pairing garments with works from the museum’s collection to frame the dressed body as an art form.

The dress code, Fashion is Art, matched that ambition. Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams and Anna Wintour served as co-chairs, while the host committee pulled in a wide sweep of entertainment, fashion and sport, including Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, Gwendoline Christie, Alex Consani, Misty Copeland, Elizabeth Debicki, Lena Dunham, Paloma Elsesser, LISA, Chloe Malle, Sam Smith, Teyana Taylor, Lauren Wasser, Anna Weyant, A’ja Wilson and Yseult. Newly announced members included Adut Akech, Angela Bassett, Sinéad Burke, Rebecca Hall, Aimee Mullins, Tschabalala Self, Amy Sherald and Chase Sui Wonders.

Yet Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos were the lead sponsor figures and honorary chairs, making Amazon’s founder one of the night’s most visible names. That role fueled boycott calls in New York, with critics targeting Amazon’s labor practices and alleged ties to immigration enforcement. Some celebrities publicly questioned whether attending was appropriate, underscoring how quickly the gala’s polished image can be pulled into broader culture-war politics.

The timing made the scrutiny sharper. The Met scheduled the red carpet livestream to begin at 5:30 p.m. EDT on Monday, and the institution is using the night to launch its new galleries with a show designed to link clothing and art inside one of the museum’s most prominent spaces. Last year’s gala reportedly raised a record $31 million, a reminder of how much money and influence now converge on a single invitation. In 2026, the Met’s fashion showcase was also a referendum on who gets to bankroll culture, and at what cost.