Like her nearly cancelled alter ego, Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), Anna Wintour came under fire for a controversial move of her own. No, it wasn’t sanctioning a glowing article about a fast fashion brand, but, in a way, it’s close to that. For who sells fast fashion (and just about everything else) better than Jeff Bezos, the billionaire behind Amazon? As such, it was Bezos and his newly-minted wife, Lauren Sánchez (who has tacked “Bezos” onto her last name now), that were “welcomed” by Wintour as co-chairs (a.k.a. “lead sponsors”) at this year’s Met Gala. The increasingly expensive “fundraiser” for the Costume Institute that ultimately serves as a glorified prom for celebrities.
While there were a lot of rallying calls to boycott the event because of the billionaire blood money pulling the strings on it, it looked as if very few stars were deterred from attending. In fact, some of the biggest names showed up who hadn’t appeared at the event in years. Case in point, Beyoncé returning to not only showcase her look on the steps, but to co-chair as well. Even Blake Lively, who was previously all “entrenched” in her legal case against Justin Baldoni, decided to settle it so she could apparently show up looking like a “fairy princess” to remind the public that she’s still around for other reasons besides being “litigious.” Alas, most didn’t view the appearance as a “good look” right after so readily dropping her case when she had made such a big to-do about going to bat for women.
Needless to say, she was hardly the only hypocritical celebrity in attendance. Because everyone who chose to go this year’s event was exactly that (more so than usual). Even Madonna who, after a seven-year absence from the event post-2018, started to come back to it again last year (when the theme was “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” which, naturally, she wouldn’t miss as it’s no secret that she has a certain fetish for Black people). For this year’s showing, Madonna went more all out than she ever has in a Saint Laurent dress and cape, topped off with what looked like a pirate ship for a hat.
In that regard, Madonna’s hat was perhaps more of a statement than even she meant it to be. For what is the presence and influence of Bezos at the Met Gala if not a metaphor for a modern-day pirate? Inserting himself into everyone else’s domain as he ransacks whatever “booty” he can get out of it (fittingly, the man that Bezos backed in the election has also been talking a lot about pirates lately). And what he’s already gotten out of it so far is a Vogue cover for his wife, who appeared on the digital cover of the June 2025 issue with the tacky headline, “Here Comes the Bride!” And here she keeps coming, resting on the “laurels” of her sugar daddy (who didn’t appear on the red carpet likely due to a fear of being tarred and feathered) at the supposed event of the season (at least in New York). With many still speculating that part of Bezos’ decision to cozy up to Wintour and offer her ten million dollars as his token of “friendship” (read: sponsorship/“I own you” reminder) is to secure his wife a foothold somewhere in what’s left of the fashion business. More specifically, what’s left of the “print media” side of it.
So, again, The Devil Wears Prada 2 plotline seems to factor in here, with Wintour willing to bend to (bend over for) whoever controls the purse strings at this juncture because that’s how dire the need for cash is to keep bankrolling the Vogue x Met Gala juggernaut. A costly enterprise, to be sure. Which means one can apparently put a price on their integrity. That quality among the few things that Wintour was formerly renowned for—apart from being a toto bitch that served as fodder for a book-turned-movie character with Cruella de Vil-like propensities. But when she essentially sold the Met Gala, de facto Vogue, to the highest bidder, the last shred of her credibility seemed all but decimated.
And yet, here were all the usual celebrity suspects in attendance, as if it was “no big” that Bezos and Sánchez had infiltrated the space in an overt bid to gradually take over it. This being what capitalists of such a nature do when they’ve got all the money in the world: try to move in on art and culture. Because, sadly, those “businesses” (the biggest ongoing mistake being to assume that art should be treated like a business) do require patronage. Now more than ever. That is, if they want to stay both afloat and relevant at all.
Unfortunately, when grotesque money gets involved in supporting (i.e., controlling) them, the result is an inevitable perversion, a complete taintedness. Nonetheless, Wintour was quick to act as if her allowance of Bezos and Sánchez into the fold was totally normal. Not at all related to the obscene amount of money they gave. Instead, Wintour presented the Bezos’ presence—namely, Lauren’s—as follows: “I think Lauren is going to be a wonderful asset to the museum and to the event. We’re very grateful for her incredible generosity. And she’s a great lover of costume and obviously of fashion [un no, not obviously at all, if one is to review her history of banal clothing]. So we’re thrilled she’s part of the night.”
Not sure who Wintour means when she says “we,” but it was clear that at least one person in attendance wasn’t “thrilled,” and made that evident in their choice of costume. Said person being none other than Sarah Paulson, who attended the event in a Matières Fécales ball gown that was rounded out by her one-dollar bill mask intended to signify being “blinded by money.” This adhering to the “Fashion Is Art” theme in that it was a look that at least had something to say by partially acknowledging the elephant a.k.a. billionaire in the room. The mask was, thus, an overt reference the compromised nature of this year’s event (which, based on its Bezos blood money, would be more at home catering to a “Fast Fashion Is Profitable” theme).
Of course, there are those who would (and did) call out Paulson’s own hypocrisy in making such a statement while also attending the event (which now costs $300,000 for a table). But one supposes it’s in keeping with something John (Pat Healy) in Ghost World said to Enid (Thora Birch): “You really want to fuck up the system? Go to business school. That’s what I’m gonna do. Get a job at some big corporation and, like, fuck things up from the inside.” Clearly, it doesn’t look as if that method is working at all for those who would try to lay claim to “fucking things up from the inside.” With “the system” very much alive and well as it allows those at the top of the capitalist food chain to keep not only control over everything, but also to keep everyone—even those with the “highest standards”—in their back pocket. With Wintour being no exception to the rule.
Indeed, The Devil Wears Prada 2 connection doesn’t stop with Wintour making a major fashion faux pas in an entirely new kind of way, but also via the fact that Bezos bought The Washington Post back in the 2010s, which recently resulted in hundreds of journalists being laid off à la Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway). And with his blatant insertion into the fashion world, including its “bible” (Vogue), Bezos appears keen to own everything that’s left of “corporate-backed arts,” perhaps even Condé Nast. So, who knows, perhaps by next year, it will be renamed to the “Amazon Gala.” Though that likely still wouldn’t stop the same kowtowing celebrities from showing up.
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