Bella Hadid, Zendaya and Meryl Streep boycotted the Met Gala 2026. Reason: The main sponsor is Jeff Bezos.
The annual Met Gala took place on May 4th in New York. The most famous artists were once again photographed in elegant costumes on the red carpet. However, some regular participants in the gala did not show up at the Metropolitan Museum of Arts this year. There was already a lot of criticism surrounding this year’s event in advance. The main sponsors for 2026 are none other than Amazon boss Jeff Bezos and his wife Lauren Sanchez Bezos. The two paid at least $10 million to be the honorary chair of the gala this year.
The Met Gala is funded almost entirely by donations, and the annual event is the largest and most significant fundraising event in the world. This year, over $40 million is said to have been raised. The event is not only important as a fundraising event – it is also considered one of the most important social events for celebrities.
The controversy
Billionaire Jeff Bezos and his wife have been heavily criticized for supporting the US immigration agency ICE. In addition, there have been scandals surrounding the billionaire and his company Amazon in the past – there have been many reports in particular about working conditions at the company.
However, which stars boycotted the event this year in protest against Bezos?
Bella Hadid
Model Bella Hadid, who has attended the Met five times, boycotted the event on Monday night. Back on Friday, she gave an Instagram post a thumbs up that read, “I love Ice out Pins but you can’t wear them to the @jeffbezos backed Met Gala.” Many of her fans were already sure that the 29-year-old would not be on the red carpet this year. The model had previously often spoken out against ICE and had also shown other political activism.
Taraji P Henson
Actress Taraji P. Henson, who attended the last gala, also commented on the same Instagram post: “I’m totally confused about some people participating. I’m just wondering: WHAT THE HELL ARE WE DOING THERE!?!?!?!”
Zendaya
Actress Zendaya was also absent this year. Although she has already been part of the fundraising event seven times and even took part as co-chair in 2024 and thus helped with the preparations for the event.
Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep, who most recently played the fictionalized version of Anna Wintour in “The Devil Wears Prada 2” and was photographed with the editor-in-chief in the last issue of “Vogue,” was also not at the Met Gala. According to Daily Mail, she even reportedly turned down an offer to co-host this year’s event. However, Streep had also refused to take part in the event in previous years.
Zohran Mamdani
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani also skipped the event. Back in April, he announced that neither he nor his wife Rama Duwaji would be attending the event. In recent years, the city’s mayors have regularly attended the gala – including Eric Adams, Bill de Blasio and Michael Bloomberg.
Media and protests
The boycott of the gala didn’t just come from celebrities. Many people also protested on the streets against Bezos and his Amazon company. There were even arrests. An activist group left bottles of fake urine in the museum to draw attention to reports from the working environment at Amazon. Apparently Bezos doesn’t even allow his employees to take bathroom breaks.
There was a lot of controversy surrounding the gala this year. The media also reported critically on the Met. A critic from the New York Times wrote: “The tech billionaires hijacked the fashion event to turn it into a costume party for the super-rich.”
