The Met Gala, once promoted as a celebration of creativity and artistic expression, has increasingly come under fire as a symbol of excess and inequality. This year, the criticism has intensified, with many arguing that the event no longer represents art so much as it does a meeting of wealth and influence among a global elite.
Central to the backlash is Amazon CEO and billionaire Jeff Bezos, whose role as an honorary chair has been widely condemned. For critics, his presence epitomises the contradictions at the heart of the Gala: a display of luxury and wealth taking place next to mounting concerns around labour conditions and economic disparity.
The reaction has not been confined to online commentary. Activists and labour organisers have taken to the streets, urging a boycott of the Met Gala and noting it as an emblem of inequality and systemic imbalance.
One particularly striking protest involved a message projected onto Bezos’s reported $120 million penthouse. Organised by Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment, it featured Mary Hill, a 72-year-old Amazon worker from North Carolina.
View this post on Instagram
The organisation also drew attention to the recent death of an Amazon worker at the same warehouse.
“He was on the floor. It looked to me like he was dying. I had to leave after 15 or 20 minutes because Amazon will charge you for the time. The [Wellness team] still hadn’t come,” a worker reported.
View this post on Instagram
For many, the contrast between the Met Gala’s spectacle and these testimonies exposes the human cost behind the fortunes celebrated at events like these.
In deliberate opposition, the ‘Ball Without Billionaires’ unfolded in New York, offering a pointed critique of the Gala’s exclusivity. The event placed workers at the centre of its narrative, featuring Amazon warehouse staff, delivery drivers, union organisers, and activists as its models.
Co-hosted by stylist Gabriella Karefa-Johnson and actor Lisa Ann Walter, the show challenged the notion that fashion’s most important voices belong to the wealthy. Instead, it emphasised that labour, not capital, is the foundation of industries like Amazon.
Walter, dressed in a white suit, underscored the message with the statement, “Art belongs to everyone”. The event drew hundreds and served as a stark counterpoint to the Met Gala.
View this post on Instagram
Notably, some celebrities were absent from the Met Gala; figures such as Zendaya, Meryl Streep, Zohran Mamdani and Billly Porter were among those who chose to skip the red carpet, a move interpreted by some as a quiet rebuke.
These developments show growing unease with what the Met Gala represents. Far from being a festivity of art, it is instead increasingly viewed as a stage on which power and inequality are not only displayed but celebrated.
© 2026 GCN (Gay Community News). All rights reserved.
Support GCN
GCN is a free, vital resource for Ireland’s LGBTQ+ community since 1988.
GCN is a trading name of National LGBT Federation CLG, a registered charity - Charity Number: 20034580.
GCN relies on the generous support of the community and allies to sustain the crucial work that we do. Producing GCN is costly, and, in an industry which has been hugely impacted by rising costs, we need your support to help sustain and grow this vital resource.
Supporting GCN for as little as €1.99 per month will help us continue our work as Ireland’s free, independent LGBTQ+ media.