Met Gala insiders leak 'disturbing' drama plaguing first event bankrolled by Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez: 'Slap in the face' break with tradition... Anna Wintour's new role... and A-lister who backed out

By CADY LANG - US FEATURES WRITER Usually, it's all about the fashion. But, as A-list celebrities and society power players ascend the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for fashion's biggest night on Monday, for once it will be something - or perhaps more pertinently someone - else garnering all the attention. Gone is the chatter about the exclusively tight guest list over which Conde Nast maven Anna Wintour has reigned supreme as the chairwoman of the Costume Institute benefit, known colloquially as the Met Gala, for over 30 years - because gone is that exclusivity, judging by who will be greeting guests at the top. Instead, insiders have told the Daily Mail, all eyes will be fixed on the glittering gala's controversial lead sponsors and honorary co-chairs, Amazon founder and tech billionaire Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sanchez Bezos. A fashion industry insider told the Daily Mail: 'It's, quite frankly, very hurtful and very disturbing for [the Bezoses] to be the face of this year's Met Gala, something that is really meaningful to a lot of people and to such a highly regarded and highly respected institution. 'It feels like a real slap in the face to a lot of people.' Indeed, the Daily Mail has learned that, the Bezoses' involvement has cast a shadow over the ritzy event, dubbed the Oscars of fashion for its unabashed display of opulent glamour. According to our source, at least one A-list heavyweight has pulled out of Met Gala programming as a result. The Daily Mail has been told that Meryl Streep - who appeared on the May 2026 Vogue cover alongside Wintour for The Devil Wears Prada 2 promotion - was rumored to have been one of the Met Gala's co-chairs this year, but allegedly declined to do so because of the Bezoses' bankrolling and presiding over the party as guests of honor. Insiders have told the Daily Mail that all eyes will be fixed on the glittering gala's controversial lead sponsors and honorary co-chairs, Amazon founder and tech billionaire Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sanchez Bezos Streep appeared on a Vogue cover alongside Wintour for The Devil Wears Prada 2 promotion The Daily Mail has been told that Meryl Streep was rumored to have been one of the Met Gala's co-chairs this year, but allegedly declined to do so because of the Bezoses Representatives for Streep did not respond to the Daily Mail's request for comment. Backlash against the hyper-affluent couple has been building since the November announcement. For some, Bezos's apparent alignment with the Trump administration is simply not a good look. Online commentators have gone as far as to label the event the 'Jeff Bezos Nazi Met Gala' on social media and anti-billionaire activists have plastered New York City subway stations and streets with posters calling for a boycott of fashion's biggest night. Internal drama is just as rampant, the fashion industry insider said, as there's been dissent quietly brewing among those involved with planning the annual event - a fundraiser for the museum's fashion collection. They explained: 'The fashion industry and the people who work in it are by and large, very liberal. Anna has always publicly supported Democratic candidates for president and Vogue endorsed Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris. Even the politicians that we've seen attend the Met Gala over the years have been overwhelmingly liberal. 'To have a couple that aligns themselves with and have contributed a million dollars to inaugurating a president who has sought to eviscerate DEI, dismantle Roe v Wade, disenfranchise Black voters and crack down on immigration in a way that is so inhumane and horrific, rubs a lot of people the wrong way.' Not that the couple aren't used to controversy. Their lavish June 2025 Venice wedding was met with protests, while the Bezos-owned privatized space endeavor, Blue Origin, which saw Sanchez Bezos go to space with an all-female crew in April 2025, was derided as 'gluttonous.' Bezos, who has a net worth of $259 billion, faced additional scrutiny for his Met Gala sponsorship amid the gutting layoffs that took place in early 2026 at the Washington Post and Amazon and saw over 16,300 people across both companies lose their jobs. For many the Bezoses' underwriting of the Met Gala is a less than subtle attempt to buy their way into the elite circles of the notoriously exclusive fashion industry. In recent years, their desire to be accepted within these upper echelons has been apparent. At couture week in Paris earlier this year, they were spotted cozying up to Wintour and Dior's creative director, Jonathan Anderson, as well as with a Vogue digital cover story in 2025 that showcased Sanchez Bezos's Dolce & Gabbana wedding dress. To be the main sponsors of the exorbitantly expensive Met Gala, where individual tickets clock in at $100,000 and tables go for a whopping $350,000, is perhaps the ultimate flex of their immense financial power. According to our fashion source, the Bezoses' roles as honorary co-chairs of the Met Gala also signals that Wintour has given them her blessing and that others in the fashion industry will follow suit - though many of them may harbor deep reservations in private. 'The Met Gala is the most exclusive, coveted and sought after invitation on the fashion social calendar, so to have top billing on that invite as the sponsor is absolutely an embrace and a stamp of approval,' the source said. 'Obviously, the Met Gala is always over-the-top and wealth and grandeur is always on display, but there are two of the richest people to ever exist in the world who will be hosting it. When we're in the midst of a war and there are so many people struggling to have their basic needs met, it's not necessarily the image everyone wants to see.' Anna Wintour has reigned supreme as the chairwoman of the Costume Institute benefit, known colloquially as the Met Gala, for over 30 years For many, the Bezoses' underwriting of the Met Gala is a less than subtle attempt to buy their way into the elite circles of the notoriously exclusive fashion industry The Bezoses' desire to be accepted within these upper fashion echelons has been apparent, especially during couture week in Paris earlier this year Amy Odell, the author of Anna: The Biography, said that the couple may be facing additional scrutiny for their outsized fiscal role. 'The Met Gala is not normally primarily sponsored by individual donors,' Odell told the Daily Mail. 'It's normally brands that take on that task to foot the bill. For the leading sponsors to be two individuals is unusual. And they're not popular, so that's been very controversial as for why she [Anna] went to them. Obviously, their wealth is so immense that whatever they're spending is probably like pocket change to them.' While the current political and economic climate is fueling increased scrutiny of the Bezoses' financial backing, Odell said that the same economic downturn may be the very reason why Wintour decided to tap the Bezoses in the first place. 'Why did she go them? I can only imagine that brands are not ponying up as much - if you look at luxury brands like Kering and LVMH, fashion has been in a post-pandemic slump, so that could be why,' Odell said. The fashion insider agreed: 'It's much easier to wrap your head around a luxury brand that has been around for decades having the resources to sponsor an event like the Met Gala. But to reckon with the idea that two individuals can do it during a time like now, I think a lot of people question the ethics of that kind of wealth.' There's also been speculation that the changes are due to Wintour stepping down from her role as the editorial director of Vogue in late 2025 and elevating Chloe Malle to the top with the new title, Head of Editorial Content. However, Odell, who writes about Wintour often in her Substack, Back Row, said that Wintour's influence, especially when it comes to the Met Gala, has not diminished in the slightest - meaning that her selection of Bezoses as the lead sponsors was intentional and considered. Odell said: 'The misconception that many of us have made in observing her new position at Conde Nast is assuming that it's a step back, when, in reality, I think she may have been looking at it as passing off what no longer suited her. 'Running a media property, where you're hustling pageviews and coming up with events and doing social media content and looking at reports - my hunch is that she didn't really want to do that anymore, so she assigned that to somebody else. It's worth remembering that when Anna announced her change in role in a Vogue article, it stated that it would allow Anna to focus more on other projects like the Met Gala.' The inside source also hinted that Malle wouldn't be opposing Wintour's decisions, especially when it came to the Bezoses. In fact, the fashion insider shared that Malle, who wrote both of the glowing profiles of Sanchez Bezos in Vogue, had talked in the Vogue offices about her chummy relationship with her.  'Obviously, their wealth is so immense that whatever they're spending is probably like pocket change to them,' Odell said of the Bezoses, pictured here with Wintour front row at the Tom Ford fall/winter runway show in February 2020 The inside source also hinted that Chloe Malle (pictured to the right of Wintour) wouldn't be opposing Wintour's decisions, especially when it came to the Bezoses While Wintour has been taken to task by critics and the peanut gallery alike for making the Bezoses the lead sponsors, Odell said the outraged reactions may be more indicative as a sign of the times than of her actual co-signing of the billionaire couple themselves. 'The sociopolitical landscape is really different today. Billionaires are not well-liked,' Odell said.  'Income inequality is so stark and it's become a very political issue. Anna wasn't up against the same climate in 2015.' Despite her continued influence, Wintour has still faced flack in some of fashion's inner circles. The inside source said that platforming the Bezoses is 'hypocritical,' given Wintour's longtime soft power moves for Democratic politics and as her stance as a proponent of DEI, especially in the wake of last year's Met Gala theme honoring Black style. They said: 'To have the 2025 Met Gala that was a celebration of the Black dandy, which was groundbreaking and historic to then, a year later, have the host be a couple who publicly supports an administration that is actively rolling back DEI initiatives and civil rights, is so disrespectful and distasteful. It makes last year's Met Gala seem extremely performative.' Representatives for Vogue and the Bezoses did not respond to the Daily Mail's request for comment. Odell, however, said that Wintour may appear to be less concerned with political affiliations than she is with her proximity to who's currently in power.  She points out that a source for her book on Wintour, Anna: The Biography, said that the longtime editor was 'attracted to people who are powerful,' a currency that's always en vogue. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. 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