One of New York’s hottest events is under pressure this year — not from declining attendance, glamour or budget — but from criticism, bad press and even calls for a boycott.

That said, the annual fashion show and fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute will still bring the glitz on May 4. This year’s show, “Costume Art,” seeks to present fashion as a through-line in the entire history of art.

The dress code, “Fashion is Art,” seems chosen for maximum red carpet flexibility. Curator Andrew Bolton told The Associated Press the theme would hopefully put an end to “rather obsolete” debate over whether fashion belongs in the art world.

“It’s reversing what we’ve done before,” Bolton said. “Now we’re looking at art through the lens of fashion.”

Bringing in a record sum of more than $31 million US last year and with a brand new 1,115-square-metre digs this year, the 2026 Met Gala isn’t lacking in general appeal. This year’s event will inaugurate the Condé M. Nast Galleries, created from what was formerly the museum’s retail store.

Even the mannequins are new this year: Bolton has included figures often ignored throughout art history in his exhibit, with explorations of large and disabled bodies. 

Boasting none other than Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams and Beyoncé as co-chairs — the first time the Cowboy Carter singer has graced the gala in a decade — the star power isn’t gone, either.

Joining them — along with lead chairperson, Vogue’s Anna Wintour — is a “host committee” chaired by designer Anthony Vaccarello and filmmaker Zoë Kravitz, and featuring names from Sabrina Carpenter and Teyana Taylor to Lena Dunham and Misty Copeland.

Additions include actor Angela Bassett and athlete Aimee Mullins.

Amazon involvement prompts boycott

But some new faces haven’t been quite as well received. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, along with wife Lauren Sánchez Bezos, are honorary chairs — who, according to a Met news release, are operating as the main source of funding for the year’s event. In the past, the evening has relied on luxury brands to operate as sponsors, making their partnership a unique move. 

Beginning earlier in April, posters began popping up outside the museum and around New York City, decrying the event as “the Bezos Met Gala … brought to you by worker exploitation.” Others claim the gala is “brought to you by the firm that powers ICE.”

Those protests have primarily come from an activist group called Everyone Hates Elon, which also posted an Instagram video of members hacking subway display cases to post anti-billionaire messages.

Their campaign seemingly aimed to highlight a number of Amazon’s controversies: from allegedly aiding the Department of Homeland Security in deportation orders to compelling employees to urinate in bottles to keep up with delivery requirements — the latter explaining why hundreds of bottles of yellow liquid with Bezos’ face on them were recently dropped around the museum.

Disdain towards the well-known billionaire’s partnership is a marked escalation of a common complaint around the Met Gala. Celebrating opulence, wealth and all things elitism, the exclusive night hasn’t always sat well with New Yorkers.

Individual tickets are $100,000 US, a table of 10 starts at $350,000 US with room for an approximate total of 400 guests in all. Given it’s all happening in the context of widening wealth-inequality, the Met Gala is often met with criticism for being out of touch. 

This year is no different. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who took office on an affordability platform, recently confirmed he will not attend. His absence breaks what is somewhat of a tradition, as many leaders of the city have made a point of hobnobbing with stars on the carpet in the past. 

Among past New York mayors who’ve attended is Eric Adams, who wore a tuxedo with the words “End Gun Violence” on the back in 2022. The year before, representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez made an appearance in a white gown featuring the words “Tax the Rich” on the back. 

“My focus is also on affordability and making the most expensive city in the United States affordable, and that’s what I’m looking to spend a lot of my time focused on,” Mamdani told the local outlet Hell Gate on his decision not to attend. 

The mayor’s choice not to attend might also signal the gala’s decline in cultural relevance: especially as Wintour — the woman who first turned it from a normal charity event into the popular and exclusive exhibition it became — inches closer to retirement. 

The 76-year-old former head of Vogue handed the magazine’s daily editorial reins over to Chloe Malle last year — though while staying on as global editorial director and chief content officer for Condé Nast — ending a near 40-year reign of one of the most influential fashion brands on Earth. 

As even Vogue has reported on the declining popularity of fashion magazines, some wonder how the Met Gala would survive without Wintour spearheading it. In the wake of everything from civil rights and climate-focused protests, to criticisms around expenses and COVID-era closures, the Costume Institute has been building a rainy day fund from Met Gala proceeds since 2016.

As reported by the New York Times, that fund would allow the institute to keep going should the Met Gala ever cease to function. While that eventuality might feel more possible in recent years, the 2026 ceremony is still set to go on Monday.