A protest sign berating Jeff Bezos outside the Met Gala, set for May 4, has gone viral amid a raging controversy surrounding the founder and ex-CEO of Amazon.
The Met Gala, officially the Costume Institute Benefit, is an annual fundraising event held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and attended by celebrities decked to the nines in keeping with the theme.
Highlights
- Amazon founder and executive chairperson Jeff Bezos will attend the 2026 Met Gala as the primary sponsor and an honorary co-chair, along with his wife, Lauren Sánchez.
- Amid the social media outrage over the decision, an activist group mocked Amazon’s atrocious work environment as part of an anti-Jeff Bezos campaign in New York City.
- Some top Hollywood celebrities who have previously attended the event have reportedly declined to show up this year.
Often seen as the pinnacle of haute couture, this year’s event has faced serious scrutiny and even calls for a boycott over the involvement of Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez, as the sponsors and honorary co-chairs.
“I can't believe people are still attending this toxic Gala!” one user said on Instagram. “Can't wait to see the celeb idiots canceled.”
An activist group took jabs at Amazon’s poor working conditions in anti-Jeff Bezos protests
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The pushback against Jeff Bezos began almost immediately after he and Sánchez were announced as the financial backers of the 2026 Met Gala in February, amid a surge in anti-billionaire sentiment in New York City and the USA overall.
The protests gained further momentum after the city’s newly elected mayor, Zohran Mamdani, declared in April that he would not attend the event, unlike his predecessors, and that his focus was on making NYC “affordable”.
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In the weeks leading up to the event, protests against Bezos and the Met Gala erupted online and on the streets of New York, urging celebrities to boycott the event. Amid the uproar, a faceless activist group called Everyone Hates Elon launched a campaign across the city, including putting up posters on lampposts, bus stops, and subway cars.
On Sunday, May 4, they shared a post on their Instagram account, revealing their latest project — placing empty plastic bottles outside the venue in a nod to Amazon workers' complaints about not getting bathroom breaks and having to relieve themselves in a bottle.
“Installed in honor of Met Gala chair Jeff Bezos,” the sign accompanying the bottles read. “Go ahead, it’s good enough for his staff.”
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The signs got widespread support on social media.
“Whoever installed this outside the Met Gala is ICONIC,” one user said. Another wrote, “Feels like watching a much better red carpet, seeing these protests debut over the weekend.”
“To everyone involved in this, thank you,” a third said. A fourth commented, “Thank you for all that you do to help people wake up.”
Some even said they had canceled their Amazon Prime subscriptions in protest.
Amazon workers spoke up against Jeff Bezos ahead of the Met Gala
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On March 1, Everyone Hates Elon hid more than 300 bottles of fake urine inside the Metropolitan Museum before the Met Gala as part of their campaign.
“Jeff Bezos's company, Amazon, is literally being sued for forcing workers to urinate in bottles,” the group said on social media.
“Amazon avoids MILLIONS in tax, and Bezos is one of the world's richest men. The Met Museum is taking the P*SS by having Jeff honored as their Gala host.”
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They followed it up with a message by one Mary Hill, a 72-year-old Amazon warehouse worker from North Carolina, projected onto the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and Bezos’ $120 million penthouse near Madison Square Park.
“When we struggle from paycheck to paycheck, from week to week, it really angers me, because if it weren’t for every associate in every Amazon facility, he wouldn’t have all those zeroes behind his name,” she said. “Shame on you, Jeff Bezos.”
“There is power in numbers, and there are more of us than there are of you. Remember, Jeff, ordinary people like myself — they help make you billionaires. If we have built it, we can tear it down.”
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Over the years, Amazon has faced numerous lawsuits and legal challenges over allegations of unsafe warehouse conditions, inhumane productivity quotas, restricted scheduled rest or bathroom breaks, and inadequate disability or pregnancy accommodations.
In 2024, Amazon entered into a corporate-wide settlement with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to help better protect employees from hazardous working conditions. However, the accusations have continued.
Some Hollywood A-listers have also called out the Met Gala in 2026
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On top of the general public’s disenchantment with the event amid the current socio-political and economic scenario, several celebrities have also refused to attend the 2026 Met Gala amid outrage over Jeff Bezos.
Among the top names to skip the event this year are Zendaya and Meryl Streep, according to reports.
Zendaya reportedly cited the need for a break from the spotlight after two back-to-back press tours for The Drama and Euphoria season 3. Meanwhile, Streep allegedly turned down a co-chair role at the event because of Bezos’ involvement.
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Bella Hadid and Taraji P. Henson, who have attended several Met Galas in the past, liked a post by content creator Meredith Lynch that said, “You cannot wear the ICE out pin to the Jeff Bezos-backed Met Gala. Jeff Bezos is part of the reason we’re in this mess.”
“The Met Gala is now giving Bezos exactly the kind of reputation laundering and cultural rocket fuel he needs to keep destroying America,” said Cynthia Nixon, the Sex and the City actress and activist who ran for New York’s governor in 2018. “My hat is off to [Zohran Mamdani] for not attending.”
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Reports claimed that Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande, Nina Dobrev, Jungkook, Ryan Reynolds, and Blake Lively are also not attending.
The negative sentiment surrounding the Met Gala allegedly forced ticket prices to drop for the first time in history, according to an insider who spoke to gossip columnist Rob Shuter.
"Smells like the Capitol in The Hunger Games." The internet voiced its protest against Jeff Bezos's involvement in the Met Gala
