A spectacle of material waste, celebrity culture, and growing wealth inequality, the Met Gala is no stranger to protest and criticism. But this year’s Jeff and Lauren Sánchez Bezos-sponsored soirée was a masterclass in ragebaiting the masses.
The Met Gala’s red carpet entrance is one of the most heavily scrutinized cultural moments online, and last night, the gloves were off when it came to evaluating the choptitude or servability of each look. It makes sense, doesn’t it? If you’re going to publicly align yourself with a billionaire-backed costume party because a luxury fashion house invited you to sit at the table they bought out, the least you can do is look good.
And yet, so many celebrities failed to do even that. Not that it was easy to stunt against the backdrop of Amazon’s unfair labor practices and its connection to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, all amid the fragrance of the cost-of-living crisis affecting a majority of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s recently unionized employees. The weeks-long Everyone Hates Elon campaign against the Bezos’s involvement with the Met Gala throughout New York City certainly primed spectators to be even less sympathetic to sartorial gaffes.
Statistics shared by the Met Union, a bargaining unit comprised of over 900 museum employees, through its official Instagram account (screenshots Hyperallergic via Instagram)
So, let’s gather ’round and acknowledge the one thing worth celebrating with regard to the Met Gala: the mean-spirited ingenuity of eagle-eyed social media critics.
Lauren Sánchez Bezos walked the red carpet alone yesterday evening in a Schiaparelli gown ostensibly meant to evoke John Singer Sargent’s “Madame X” (1883–84), which the museum owns. In classic form, the wrath of the internet rained down upon her before she even made it inside. The criticism ultimately boiled down to the age-old saying, “money can’t buy taste.”
This was her 1884 Paris Salon moment:
And the obvious but most appropriate critique:
Since there wasn’t much else to say about Sánchez Bezos’s nothingburger look other than “go girl, give us nothing,” people wasted no time channeling their creativity elsewhere.
Behold, some of the more inventive takes from social media last night:
A 20-for-one special:
Katniss: omg where’s Peeta
Peeta: pic.twitter.com/xZb3xyJPZg— Choptimus Prime (@mikesmicYT) May 4, 2026
Many users picked up on some South Asian trends throughout the evening:
Anne Hathaway says “Inshallah” in an interview — what’s your next move?
Would it really be the Met Gala if Bezos affiliate and astronaut cosplayer Katy Perry wasn’t on some bullshit?
And as for Bad Bunny … The Super Bowl Halftime Show already feels like a million years ago.
I’m a Memphis design lover all the way, but this … this might be Memphisn’t.
Heated Rivalry‘s Connor Storrie was relentlessly dragged over coals for whatever this was:
And his co-star Hudson Williams …
There isn’t enough time in the day for us to sift through all of last night’s memes and shenanigans. Now that it’s time for you to do your own research, I leave you with this parting gift:
