"Eat The Rich" Protests Surge Outside Jeff Bezos-Sponsored Met Gala 2026

This year’s Met Gala has faced heavy backlash due to Jeff Bezos‘ involvement, as he and wife Lauren Sánchez Bezos serve as honorary chairs for the evening as well as are sponsoring the accompanying spring Costume Institute exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There are heated concerns about the billionaire buying influence with the event. Bezos himself did not walk the carpet at the event, and Sánchez Bezos walked the steps solo. Meanwhile, protests swelled outside the gala. A protestor nearly got as close as the photographers at the event before their signs were ripped and flung behind a barricade. Social media users have dubbed the event as the “Amazon Prime Gala” or “Bezos Ball.”

A video shared by the social media account "Everyone Hates Elon" on Saturday, May 2, shows people placing small bottles around the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The group said the bottles contain water and food coloring. The group claims to have hidden hundreds of "piss bottles," a nod to past allegations against Amazon that workers were forced to urinate in bottles to meet productivity demands, a claim the company has previously denied. "Jeff Bezos's company Amazon is literally being sued for forcing workers to urinate in bottles. Amazon avoids MILLIONS in tax and Bezos is one of the world's richest men," the group wrote in a May 2 Instagram post. "The Met Museum is taking the PISS by having Jeff honoured as their Gala host." The Met quickly stepped in to avoid disruptions.

Bezos recently spent millions on a movie by First Lady Melania Trump via his Amazon MGM film studios. From subway cars to the sides of buildings, boycott signage flashed across New York City ahead of the lavish event. A massive poster featured a tear gas container on a red carpet and said, "The Bezos Met Gala... Brought to you by the firm that powers ICE." Manhattan too staged a mini fashion show in retaliation. Labor is Art, a group bringing together Amazon workers, their unions and supporters, put up a show on Little West 12th Street to underline that labor workers have the power to tell their own stories.

This 2026 Met Gala is being co-chaired by Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams and Anna Wintour under the theme of “Costume Art,” which “examines the centrality of the dressed body throughout time and culture, juxtaposing garments and works of art from across the Museum’s vast collection to create pairings that highlight the indivisible connection between clothing and the body,” per The Met.