Calls for Met Gala boycott after Bezos foots the bill: ‘Brought to you by worker exploitation’

A group of guerrilla activists are urging people to boycott this year’s Met Gala over the involvement of Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos.

At various locations near the Metropolitan Museum in New York City, posters have popped up with the words: “Bezos Met Gala: Brought to you by the firm that powers ICE” and “Boycott the Bezos Met Gala.”

In November, the Met announced that this year’s biggest night in fashion would be “made possible” by the world’s third-richest man and his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, who were named as lead sponsors, alongside secondary donors, Condé Nast and Saint Laurent. The role is understood to give the couple influence over everything from invites to the overall presentation of the event.

The sponsorship by the tech mogul — who recently spent millions on a movie by First Lady Melania Trump via his Amazon MGM film studios — sparked backlash from critics who accused Bezos of buying influence at the prestigious fashion ball.

The poster that referenced ICE shows a canister of tear gas on a red carpet, alluding to allegations that Amazon quietly purged foreign warehouse workers who had legal authorization to work in the U.S. but lost it under President Donald Trump’s deportation efforts. The Independent has contacted Bezos’s representatives for comment.

Another poster, stuck to a wall a few blocks from the museum, reads: “The Bezos Met Gala: Brought to you by worker exploitation,” referencing alleged worker mistreatment at Amazon order fulfillment centers.

The flyer campaign was organized by the British political activist group Everyone Hates Elon, which describes itself as anti-billionaire. The group’s name is inspired by the Tesla tech mogul Elon Musk.

In an interview with The New York Times, an anonymous leader of the group claimed that an online donation portal created last week has so far raised £10,000 (around $13,000) to fund the postering campaign around the city.

Everyone Hates Elon is the same group that traveled to Venice for Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s wedding last summer, displaying an enormous banner in the middle of the Piazza San Marco with a picture of a laughing Bezos beneath the words: “If you can rent Venice for your wedding you can pay more tax.”

Anna Wintour, Vogue’s global editorial director who has chaired the Met Gala since 1995, has attempted to quell the backlash over the couple’s involvement.

She told CNN in November: “I think Lauren is going to be a wonderful asset to the museum and to the event. I’m very grateful for her incredible generosity, and she’s a great lover of costume and obviously of fashion, so we’re thrilled she’s part of the night.”

The couple’s sponsorship of the Met Gala breaks precedent from having a legacy fashion house as the primary sponsor.

The dress code for the 4 May event is “Costume Art,” which explores the “centrality of the dressed body” through depictions and interpretations of the human form in the Met’s extensive collection.

The dress code is said to encourage guests to think about how they can use their bodies as a blank canvas.

“What connects every curatorial department and what connects every single gallery in the museum is fashion, or the dressed body,” Andrew Bolton, the curator in charge of the Costume Institute, said in a statement.

“It’s the common thread throughout the whole museum, which is really what the initial idea for the exhibition was.”

This year’s co-chairs, who act as honorary hosts for the fundraiser, are Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams. Members of the Gala Host Committee — co-chaired by Anthony Vaccarello and Zoë Kravitz — include singer Sabrina Carpenter, musician Doja Cat, ballerina Misty Copeland, Girls creator Lena Dunham, singer Sam Smith and One Battle After Another actor Teyana Taylor, among others.