Workers hold anti-Bezos fashion protest ahead of Met Gala in Manhattan

NEW YORK: Hours before the 2026 Met Gala, hundreds of labour organisers gathered in downtown Manhattan for a protest event aimed at Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his association with this year’s gala.

The demonstration, titled The Ball Without Billionaires, unfolded in the Meatpacking District, where participants created an alternative fashion show featuring homemade outfits displayed on a temporary runway. The event was hosted by fashion stylist Gabriella Karefa-Johnson and Abbott Elementary actor Lisa Ann Walter.

During the programme, Bezos was mocked by the hosts, who described him as a Q-tip with a yacht and very bald. The runway featured Amazon workers in custom-made outfits, including several who had been injured while working in the company’s warehouses.

Activists from the local area also joined the event and voiced concerns about Amazon’s AI data centres. Some of the clothing and signs carried slogans including The Devil Wears Amazon and No AI.

Workers and union leaders join protest

A former Amazon warehouse employee addressed the gathering and criticised the company’s labour practices.

"If you ask almost any Amazon worker, they’ll know someone who died because of Amazon’s greed. I have the names of all our fallen co-workers whose deaths could have been prevented if Amazon acted responsibly," they said.

The president of the Service Employees International Union also appeared at the event. She stood in front of a makeshift bodega bearing the words Labour is power and wore a wig and sunglasses as she spoke about issues affecting workers.

In her remarks, she referred to wage stagnation, surveillance, immigration enforcement and the growing role of artificial intelligence as major concerns facing workers. "The cherry on top of this shit sundae is that our paychecks don't cover the cost of living in MAGA America," she added.

Other demonstrators held placards reading Blood for Oil and War. What is it good for? Profits.

Alternative runway contrasts with gala spectacle

As celebrities prepared to appear on the Met Gala’s red carpet elsewhere in the city, the Manhattan protest presented a contrasting message focused on labour and inequality. Instead of wealth and exclusivity, organisers used the event to spotlight workers and their grievances.

The protest turned the language of fashion into a political statement, with participants using costumes, slogans and speeches to challenge Bezos’s presence around one of the year’s most high-profile cultural events.