The Met Gala. A traditional ceremony, celebrating celebrities and fashion. Broadcasted all over television and social media, everyday families can sit down to watch models portray elegance. But what lies underneath all the makeup and products when it’s highlighted by the media? The cost of Met Gala tickets are extremely expensive and unaffordable for average families. According to Elle Australia, “tickets are estimated to cost around $100,000 per person, tables costing up to $350,000, and outfits can cost up to $50,000.” Costing around half a million dollars altogether just to attend a six-hour-long event limits guests to only millionaires. This intentionally limits invitations to only the wealthy and powerful. For celebrities, they don’t even need to pay for their own ticket because brands and fashion companies buy it for them. By intentionally restricting the invite list to the rich and famous, these events raise the question of whether its purpose is more about exclusivity than celebration.
Many boycotts to the Met Gala have taken place. Celebrities including Zendaya, Bella Hadid, Zayn Malik and Tina Fey have chosen to skip the Met Gala this year. The Independent, a British online newspaper, explained that Zendaya and Meryl Streep are reportedly skipping the Met Gala to “boycott the event over the involvement of Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos and his wife Lauren Sánchez.” Bezos’ own Amazon workers protested against him. They protested “Ball without Billionaires”. These workers presented the opinion that billionaires are celebrated too much in our culture, blaming them for creating a more unfair society. Another activist group, as stated by the Independent, “placed nearly 300 miniature bottles of fake urine throughout the Met museum in reference to multiple employees at Amazon claiming they do not get bathroom breaks.” This was another huge protest that was brought to the attention of the audience.
Although from the outside the Met Gala may seem just as it presents itself, “a celebration of creativity, history, and philanthropy within the fashion community”, it is anything but. The extremely expensive tickets and limitations to only wealthy attendees make it seem separated from everyday people. At the same time, many attempt to boycott and protest the cruelty and exclusivity surrounding the event, yet we don’t seem to be seeing any change in the near future. Will the Met Gala continue in its path of inequality, or will the many protests pay off, leading to an actual celebration of creativity?
