The year's most talked-about fashion event is fast approaching, but why are calls to boycott this year's Met Gala gaining momentum? The annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in New York is just days away, yet controversy has already taken centre stage.
This year's lead sponsors, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife Lauren Sanchez, are also serving as honorary co-chairs — a decision that has sparked backlash. Activists have reportedly launched a poster campaign urging a boycott, taking aim at Bezos' business practices. One image shows a bottle of urine placed on a red carpet — a reference to reports of Amazon drivers lacking adequate bathroom breaks. Another poster states 'Brought to you by the firm that powers ICE', referring to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Amazon's cloud computing subsidiary has a contract with the agency leading US President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.
The protests, reportedly being led by British political campaign group Everyone Hates Elon, has spoken out. 'I think it feels really powerful to take action,' a spokesperson for the group said. 'It's speaking to a need that people have to stand up to some of these people that are controlling our lives.' The group was formed in 2025 to voice opposition to businessman Elon Musk, with its Instagram claiming: 'We're taking on billionaires and their politician mates.'
What is the Met Gala?
Held to mark the opening of the museum's annual spring exhibition, the Met Gala draws a guest list of celebrities, designers and cultural heavyweights, all dressed to a specific theme. The first gala was staged in 1948 by fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert as a fundraiser for the newly established Costume Institute. The 2026 Met Gala will take place on May 4.
What is the theme for the 2026 Met Gala?
This year's theme is Costume Art, with the dress code for the event Fashion is Art. Curated by renowned British fashion curator Andrew Bolton, the exhibition will explore the relationship between clothing and the body. 'I wanted to focus on the centrality of the dressed body within the museum, connecting artistic representations of the body with fashion as an embodied art form,' Bolton said. 'Rather than prioritising fashion's visuality, which often comes at the expense of the corporeal, Costume Art privileges its materiality and the indivisible connection between our bodies and the clothes we wear.' The show will be organised around different concepts of the body — like the Naked Body, the Pregnant Body and the Aging Body — and will feature both historical and contemporary works from the museum's collection.
Who is hosting the 2026 Met Gala?
The 2026 gala will be co-chaired by music icon Beyoncé, Australian actress Nicole Kidman, sporting legend Venus Williams and former Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. It marks Beyoncé's first appearance at the event in a decade, after she last attended in 2016 for the Manus x Machina gala. Kidman and Williams, meanwhile, are regular attendees.
Who will be attending the 2026 Met Gala?
The Met Gala remains strictly invite-only, with a tightly curated guest list by Wintour spanning fashion, film, music, sport, business and tech. The New York Times reported individual tickets for the 2025 Met Gala cost $US75,000, and tables for 10 people start at $US350,000. However, celebrities are usually not the ones paying this price. Tables are generally purchased by design houses, brands or companies, who then choose the guests they'd like to invite to the table, which requires approval from Wintour.
Key Met Gala organiser Eaddy Kiernan told Vogue the seating chart starts getting prepped in December but ultimately comes together a month before the event. 'We really try to think very carefully about who's sitting next to each other,' Kiernan said. 'Our ideal pairing would maybe be two people who we think will just get on like a house on fire, but who may not even realise that they have a lot in common. So with each person, we really do take time to think, 'What will they talk about?''
After walking the red carpet, inside there is a cocktail reception, former dinner and an opportunity for the guests to view the exhibition. A no-phone policy is enforced inside the museum.
Among those confirmed for 2026 is Blackpink singer and White Lotus actor Lisa, full name Lalisa Manobal, who will serve on the Host Committee. Girls star and creator Lena Dunham is set to return for the first time since 2019, while Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki is also on the committee.
