The online grumbling that began when Amazon chief Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez were announced as major sponsors of the Met Ball — and the exhibition that celebrates it — grew louder when organizers conspicuously overlooked key backers of the glamorous spring event while unveiling the A-list guest list and 2026 theme. Now, that anger has snowballed into a rage, fueling a protest movement that brought a wave of guerrilla-style artwork to the New York subway this week.
On May 4 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, celebrities and the wealthy will walk the biggest red carpet of the year, posing for a barrage of paparazzi photos that are expected to dominate online discourse for days, if not weeks. Dubbed the “Party of the Year”, the event is expected to attract the likes of Beyoncé, Rihanna and other celebrities, as organizers promote this year’s theme of “Fashion is Art”. Also in attendance: the Amazon founder and his new wife, whose financial support helped underwrite the cause. The couple is expected to join forces for a long time Vogue magazine Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour on the museum steps, greeting arriving guests. They were appointed as honorary chairs of the event.
Wintour tried to calm the backlash over the couple’s Met Ball runway appearance, appearing on CNN, but she only added fuel to the fire. “Lauren Sanchez is a huge lover of fashion, and of course fashion,” she said, adding, “We are so grateful for her incredible generosity.”
While the February announcement did not mention the couple or their financial contributions, astute readers and sleuths online — many of whom expressed disdain and disappointment toward one of the world’s richest men, and a perceived Trump ally, who effectively bought his way into a major fashion event at a public institution — were quick to connect the dots, intensifying the backlash against the pair of newlywed billionaires.
With the Met Ball just weeks away, that backlash has spread to the city streets — or, more accurately, to the subways — where DIY posters have begun to appear. The ads, which are plastered on paid placements and circulated widely on Instagram, target the practices of Amazon’s warehouse and delivery workers, as well as the company’s reported ties to immigration enforcement through Amazon Web Services, its cloud computing arm.
The satirical ads were created by the UK-based protest collective Everybody Hates Elon, and distributed via Google Drive for public use.
“Billionaire Trump supporter Jeff Bezos is chairing the Met Gala, the biggest night for celebrities. His company is literally helping ICE. WTF @metmuseum?” reads one comment on Instagram. “Don’t let him hide behind magic while the world burns. Join the campaign and get free stickers. Link in bio.”
Emails sent to Bezos regarding the growing protest by Hollywood Reporter They were not immediately returned Friday afternoon.
