Warta Kema – Met Gala is an annual charity event that benefits the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) in New York City, America.  The annual gala usually happens in early May and is one of the most anticipated fashion events because high-profile celebrities are invited. Many fashion enthusiast audiences are also using this event as their form of entertainment, where they will criticize the guest’s outfit, whether they are sticking to the assigned theme or not.

This event is also one of the most prestigious fashion galas in the world, as the guest lists, outfits, and seating plans are all decided and arranged by the Chief Editor of Vogue, Anna Wintour. This year’s Met takes place on Monday (04/05) with the chosen theme “Fashion is Art.” Celebrities, public figures, and artists are attending this event, bringing costumes that refer to a form of art.

However, people have been criticizing the Met Gala for various reasons. One of the most notable criticisms is that people are using the “Hunger Games” reference of the capital city from the movie  to the Met Gala. This suggests that the Met Gala itself represents the dynamic between both sides, where people with wealth are living a lavish lifestyle while poverty is still a lingering issue.

An example of this issue is where the internet has compared the Met Gala to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, Palestine. People have been criticizing how the world is displayed in a juxtaposition of the rich and the poor, where the rich (the guests for the Gala) are getting richer, and the poor (victims of genocide in Gaza) are getting poorer. This comparison serves as an example of the distinct status in the world’s economic hierarchy.

Another notable controversy at the 2026 Met Gala was the attendance of Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, and his wife, Lauren Sanchez, at the annual fashion event. This enrages the internet due to the announcement that they were the honorary chairs of the event itself. Because of their high status at the event, they were also rumored to have donated 10 million for the Met Gala alone.

Bezos’ position as the main ambassador of the event has also enraged the internet. The reason why is the appearance of  Bezos at the Met could mean that Amazon is also promoting the event. Because of this, netizens are enraged since Amazon itself has allegedly broken many labour laws. As reported by the United States (U.S) Department of Labour, Amazon’s workers in New York, Idaho, and Colorado were exposed to hazardous materials.

Bezos’ attendance & position at the Met led to a protest by an activist group called “Everyone Hates Elon.” The first act of protest was on Thursday (30/04), where the protesters scattered plastic bottles that were filled with urine across the venue of the Met. The plastic bottles are also using the face of Jeff Bezos as the label, with the title “Boycott the Bezos Met Gala.” This protest symbolizes the irony that Jeff Bezos did, where he can spend 10 million dollars on a fashion charity event, but not spend the money on his workers’ convenience. This is connected to an allegation that Amazon workers are forced to urinate in a bottle rather than having a bathroom break that they deserve.

The next protest happened on Sunday (03/05), specifically the night before the Gala. The protesters have launched a “guerrilla” poster campaign using a light projector to show the slogan “If you can buy the Met Gala, you can pay more tax” on the Empire State Building. This form of protest was referring to the fact that Bezos has donated 10 million to the Met Gala. This has been perceived as an act of irony, where he’s able to spend 10 million dollars on an annual museum fundraising event rather than investing his money in his workers’ convenience.

Bezos’ presence at the Met Gala has also sparked protests from the celebrities. This can be seen where some celebrities are not returning to this year’s Met Gala, such as Zendaya, Billie Eilish, and even Meryl Streep, who was rumored to be the co-chair of the 2026 Met Gala. This rumor is supported by the fact that Meryl Streep has a well-documented friendship with the host of the Met Gala itself, Anna Wintour.

However, Meryl has declined many invitations despite being friends with the host herself. The absence of Meryl Streep from this year’s Met has created many cherry-picking rumors on the internet. One of it is that Meryl does not attend the gala allegedly because of her political stance as a liberal and her opposition to the co-chairs. The internet has speculated that her absence is due to her stance as Trump’s opponent and because the gala itself is funded and is co-chaired by Jeff Bezos, who has a close political alignment with Donald Trump.

Another absent guest is Olivia Rodrigo, who has not attended the annual gala ever since her last Met in 2023. Her absence attracts the internet’s attention as Olivia was caught liking an anti-Bezos post. This small action immediately caught the internet’s attention, with netizens applauding Olivia for not supporting the Met Gala.

Her action is compared by the internet to one of her old “rivals,” Sabrina Carpenter.This is because Sabrina attended this year’s Met, but Olivia did not, leading the internet to compare the two young artists for their distinct choice of attention. This can be seen through a post from @maxwell3431 where they said: “Oh, the fans of the racist girl are mad their fav can never reach this kind of wokeness IJBOL!” This post referred to one of Sabrina’s most recent controversies, where she allegedly mocked Middle Eastern culture during her first week of Coachella and compared it to Olivia, who is implied to be more “woke” than Sabrina.

The Met Gala is indeed one of the most awaited annual fashion shows for both pop culture enthusiasts and fashion nerds. As with many other popular annual events, controversies are unavoidable, and the public will criticize it one way or another. This can be seen through how people, such as the internet and the activist group, “Everybody Hates Elon,” who has boycotted and conducted a protest movement at this year’s Met because of various reasons, such as politics, labour laws, and many more.  A user on X with the username @HealsQuitely said that “Met Gala drama this year got more lore than the actual outfits.”

Reporter:  Firdaus Isamida Prabowo

Editor: Elga Thalita Perangin Angin, Khayla Dinda Pradwina, Fernaldhy Rossi Armanda