Jeff Bezos is said to have splurged as much as $20million to secure a starring role at this year’s Met Gala spectacle – in a move critics tell RadarOnline.com should leave the public “sickened” at America’s increasingly gaping wealth divide.
Amazon founder Bezos, 62, and his wife Lauren Sánchez, 56, served as honorary co-chairs of the 2026 fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in New York, alongside Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and long-time organizer Anna Wintour.
The event – held on Monday, May 4, under the theme Costume Art – remains one of fashion’s most visible intersections of celebrity, philanthropy, and power.
Former Vogue editor William Norwich hit out ahead of this year’s ceremony: “The Bezoses are where the American dream is at right now for status, wealth, and style.”
He added: ‘They display conspicuous consumption, and they have the AWOK – the Anna Wintour OK.'”
Insiders told us the scale of Bezos’ reported financial backing for the event was between $10million and $20million.
One source close to the gala said: “This feels less like patronage and more like purchasing cultural capital – the kind that once had to be earned over decades. In other words, Bezos has bribed his way in.”
“He was hardly a fashion icon before now, was he? This level of cash-for-access should leave millions of Americans sickened, not just because of the huge amount of cash spent to get in on one event, but because the whole thing represents how America’s wealth is now in the hands of a very few,” the insider noted.
The criticism follows a period of heightened visibility for Bezos and Sánchez, including their lavish 2025 Venice wedding attended by Kim Kardashian, Oprah Winfrey, and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Sánchez’s digital Vogue cover ahead of the ceremony – reportedly styled in Dolce & Gabbana – was widely interpreted as a signal of approval for her from Wintour.
Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former Vogue special events planner who oversaw the gala for more than a decade, sneered at the couple’s involvement in this year’s gala: “For me, it’s not just about the gala, it reflects a broader shift in the world we’re living in.”
She continued: “There was a time when access to spaces like the Met Gala, or even the pages of Vogue, wasn’t something you could simply obtain – it was something you grew into through your influence, your work, and your impact. It carried a sense of prestige that felt earned, not transactional.”
“The gala has evolved. And, in many ways, it’s become something different. It used to be a true celebration of designers, their muses and the artistry behind fashion,” Wolkoff continued. “Every person on that carpet felt intentional, like they were part of a larger narrative. That sense of purpose feels less defined now.”
The backlash has been compounded by a series of high-profile absences.
Meryl Streep, who has just reprised her fashion editor role in The Devil Wears Prada 2, declined to attend, with a representative saying: “It has never quite been her scene.”
Actress Zendaya also opted out, citing a need for a break following press tours for The Drama and Euphoria season three.
Model Bella Hadid signaled her disapproval ahead of this year’s gala by engaging with criticism online, including a post suggesting political expression would be unwelcome at an event so closely tied to Bezos.
One industry observer said: “There is discomfort about what the gala represents now that Bezos has shown he can buy his way in.”
Despite the unease, the guest list remained stacked with cultural heavyweights, with organizers leaning into the theme of “fashion is art.”