Just hours before the 2026 #MetGala, hundreds gathered in the Meatpacking District to watch people walk down a different red carpet in custom couture. The “Ball Without Billionaires” — a runway show co-hosted by fashion stylist Gabriella Karefa-Johnson and ‘Abbott Elementary’ actress Lisa Ann Walter — was union-led counter-programming to the Met’s annual Costume Institute fundraiser, which is co-chaired this year by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sanchez Bezos.
Protestors disturbed by Amazon’s AI investments, ICE contracts, and history of worker exploitation have called for boycott and came together for some counter-programming. At the show, you could find signs that read “You Can’t Buy Cool” and “Labor Is Art.” Among the choice insults hurled at Mr. Bezos: “Temu Lex Luthor,” “Q-Tip with a yacht,” and “very bald.” Walking the runway were Amazon delivery drivers and warehouse workers, local activists protesting the company’s data centers, and other union organizers.
Photos and interviews by @catyzhang
Just hours before the 2026 #MetGala, hundreds gathered in the Meatpacking District to watch people walk down a different red carpet in custom couture. The “Ball Without Billionaires” — a runway show co-hosted by fashion stylist Gabriella Karefa-Johnson and ‘Abbott Elementary’ actress Lisa Ann Walter — was union-led counter-programming to the Met’s annual Costume Institute fundraiser, which is co-chaired this year by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sanchez Bezos.
Protestors disturbed by Amazon’s AI investments, ICE contracts, and history of worker exploitation have called for boycott and came together for some counter-programming. At the show, you could find signs that read “You Can’t Buy Cool” and “Labor Is Art.” Among the choice insults hurled at Mr. Bezos: “Temu Lex Luthor,” “Q-Tip with a yacht,” and “very bald.” Walking the runway were Amazon delivery drivers and warehouse workers, local activists protesting the company’s data centers, and other union organizers.
Photos and interviews by @catyzhang
