Jeff Bezos is claimed to have splurged as a lot as $20million to safe a starring position at this yr’s Met Gala spectacle – in a transfer critics inform RadarOnline.com ought to go away the general public “sickened” at America’s more and more gaping wealth divide.
Amazon founder Bezos, 62, and his spouse Lauren Sánchez, 56, served as honorary co-chairs of the 2026 fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Artwork’s Costume Institute in New York, alongside Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and long-time organizer Anna Wintour.
The occasion – held on Monday, Might 4, below the theme Costume Artwork – stays one in every of style’s most seen intersections of celeb, philanthropy, and energy.
Former Vogue editor William Norwich hit out forward of this yr’s ceremony: “The Bezoses are the place the American dream is at proper now for standing, wealth, and elegance.”
He added: ‘They show conspicuous consumption, they usually have the AWOK – the Anna Wintour OK.'”
Insiders instructed us the size of Bezos’ reported monetary backing for the occasion was between $10million and $20million.
One supply near the gala stated: “This feels much less like patronage and extra like buying cultural capital – the sort that when needed to be earned over a long time. In different phrases, Bezos has bribed his manner in.”
“He was hardly a style icon prior to now, was he? This stage of cash-for-access ought to go away hundreds of thousands of Individuals sickened, not simply due to the massive amount of money spent to get in on one occasion, however as a result of the entire thing represents how America’s wealth is now within the palms of a only a few,” the insider famous.
The criticism follows a interval of heightened visibility for Bezos and Sánchez, together with their lavish 2025 Venice wedding ceremony attended by Kim Kardashian, Oprah Winfrey, and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Sánchez’s digital Vogue cowl forward of the ceremony – reportedly styled in Dolce & Gabbana – was extensively interpreted as a sign of approval for her from Wintour.
Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former Vogue particular occasions planner who oversaw the gala for greater than a decade, sneered on the couple’s involvement on this yr’s gala: “For me, it is not simply concerning the gala, it displays a broader shift on this planet we’re residing in.”
She continued: “There was a time when entry to areas just like the Met Gala, and even the pages of Vogue, wasn’t one thing you might merely get hold of – it was one thing you grew into by means of your affect, your work, and your influence. It carried a way of status that felt earned, not transactional.”
“The gala has developed. And, in some ways, it is change into one thing totally different. It was once a real celebration of designers, their muses and the artistry behind style,” Wolkoff continued. “Each individual on that carpet felt intentional, like they had been half of a bigger narrative. That sense of function feels much less outlined now.”
The backlash has been compounded by a collection of high-profile absences.
Meryl Streep, who has simply reprised her style editor position in The Satan Wears Prada 2, declined to attend, with a consultant saying: “It has by no means fairly been her scene.”
Actress Zendaya additionally opted out, citing a necessity for a break following press excursions for The Drama and Euphoria season three.
Mannequin Bella Hadid signaled her disapproval forward of this yr’s gala by participating with criticism on-line, together with a submit suggesting political expression can be unwelcome at an occasion so intently tied to Bezos.
One business observer stated: “There’s discomfort about what the gala represents now that Bezos has proven he should purchase his manner in.”
Regardless of the unease, the visitor listing remained stacked with cultural heavyweights, with organizers leaning into the theme of “style is artwork.”