Met Gala 2026: art, power, and a contradiction we can’t ignore
The 2026 Met Gala was funded in part by Jeff Bezos — owner of The Washington Post, the same man who silenced opposing voices, reshaped the paper’s opinion section, and attended Trump’s inauguration. Can art really celebrate freedom of expression with that kind of money behind it?
The fashion event has been surrounded by controversy following the news. Photography: Mariana Flores
This year’s Met Gala was funded in part by Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez as honorary chairs. The same Jeff Bezos who owns The Washington Post — one of the most influential newspapers in the world — and who, over the past few months, has made decisions that still don’t sit right with me. First, he blocked the Post’s editorial endorsement of Kamala Harris just days before the election — something the newspaper had consistently done since 1976. Then he redesigned the entire opinion section to publish only viewpoints aligned with “personal liberties and free markets,” effectively shutting out opposing voices. More than 300,000 subscribers canceled. Journalists resigned. The opinion editor stepped down. And his business ties to the Trump administration are massive: Amazon donated one million dollars to the inauguration. Federal government contracts are a central part of his economic ecosystem. Bezos himself admitted that he is “not the ideal owner of the Post” because of his conflicts of interest — and still chose to move forward.
Celebrating freedom of expression with the money of the man who helped silence it.
All of this is well documented. What interests me is what it means in the context of the Met Gala. Because the theme of the night was that fashion is art. And art — historically — has never existed just to be beautiful. It has existed as resistance. As a message. As a political act in the face of injustice. As hope when there’s little else to hold onto. Impressionism emerged as a rejection of official art. Dadaism was born as a response to the horrors of World War I. Fashion has been used for centuries to affirm identity, challenge norms, and say “I exist” when the world insisted otherwise. So there’s something deeply contradictory about a celebration of art as free expression being funded by someone who has used economic power to silence voices at one of the world’s most important media outlets. Someone who has made editorial decisions that, according to the journalists who resigned, had less to do with principles and more to do with not upsetting those in power.
No man has the right to dictate what other men should perceive, create, or produce.
To be clear: I’m not deeply political. And I’m not saying the gala shouldn’t have existed or that the looks weren’t incredible — because many of them absolutely were. What I am saying is that it’s worth thinking about. Because fashion and art have never been separate from politics. And when we decide who gets to fund them, we’re also deciding — even unintentionally — what kind of message we want to send. Art was created to escape. To resist. To say what cannot be said any other way. That doesn’t change depending on who pays for the ticket.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Jeff Bezos controversial at the 2026 Met Gala?
Bezos and his wife Lauren Sánchez served as honorary chairs of the event. The controversy comes from the fact that Bezos, as owner of The Washington Post, blocked the newspaper’s editorial endorsement of Kamala Harris and later reshaped the opinion section to remove opposing viewpoints — decisions that directly conflict with what art and freedom of expression are meant to represent.
Can art truly be free if it’s funded by power?
That’s the real question. Historically, art has existed as resistance and as a response to injustice — not as decoration for those in power. When the people funding it are the very same people that art should be challenging, the contradiction becomes impossible to ignore. At Musae, we believe art has the power to educate and transform — and that doesn’t work when it’s tied to interests that limit freedom itself.
What does Jeff Bezos have to do with The Washington Post?
Bezos bought The Washington Post in 2013. In 2024, he blocked the paper’s endorsement of Kamala Harris — something the newspaper hadn’t stopped doing since 1976. He later redesigned the entire opinion section to publish only viewpoints aligned with his own values. More than 300,000 subscribers canceled, and several journalists resigned.
Who funded the 2026 Met Gala?
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez served as honorary chairs, a role that involves financial backing and public visibility for the event. Bezos is the founder of Amazon, owner of The Washington Post, and one of the richest men in the world, with business interests deeply connected to the Trump administration.
Where does the money raised by the Met Gala go?
All proceeds go to the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York — the only department within the museum required to fund itself. Those resources support garment preservation, fashion history research, and the production of exhibitions, making the gala its main annual source of funding. The collection it sustains includes more than 33,000 pieces spanning seven centuries of fashion across different continents. In other words: without the gala, that archive wouldn’t exist. Which makes the question of who funds it — and why — even more interesting.
How much does it cost to attend the Met Gala?
The Met Gala isn’t for just anyone — and not only because of the invitation list. An individual ticket costs around $100,000, while a full table for ten starts at roughly $350,000, though some luxury brands pay far more. Most celebrities, however, don’t pay out of pocket. Major fashion houses like Chanel and Dior purchase tables and invite their ambassadors in exchange for wearing their designs that night. And even with all the money in the world, Anna Wintour still has the final say on who gets in.