Latest / Mini Scroll / The Met Gala 2026: Exploring The Theme, Controversies & Fashion

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The Met Gala 2026: Exploring The Theme, Controversies & Fashion · Mini Scroll

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Coming up today on Mini Scroll, we're doing a full recap of the
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2026 Met Gala from its theme to its controversies, the best and
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maybe not so best looks. Hi everyone.
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Welcome to Mini Scroll, the daily Internet culture podcast
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bringing you the biggest stories from social media, the creator
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thecommons.com dot AU. Welcome back to Mini scroll
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everyone. Mini Met scroll today we're
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doing a full deep dive into the Met Gala.
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We do this every single year, every Tuesday of the Met Gala.
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Well, it's Monday for you guys if you're not in Australia, but
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for us it's Tuesday. We always do a Met Gala specific
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episode, so I'm back. I think this is third year in a
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row that we've done this maybe even fourth year in a row.
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But before I get into it, help us stop the bop, OK, Please get
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We need some more. We're so close.
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So please, Spotify star rate US. All right, let's get in to mini
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met Scroll for today. So I'm gonna break this episode
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down by theme, hosts, controversies, and then the red
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carpet looks. So the 2026 Met Gala is taking
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place basically while I'm recording this on Monday, May
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4th or May 5th here in Sydney. The theme is Costume Art with
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the dress code. Fashion is art where guests were
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invited to express their personal relationship to fashion
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as an embodied art form, rather than dressing to a strict
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costume brief. This is directly from Vanity
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Fair quote. This year's spring exhibition is
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Costume Art and examines the centrality of the dressed body
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throughout the time and culture. Organized into 13 thematic body
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parts, the exhibition pairs garments and accessories with
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paintings, drawing, sculptures and photographs, ultimately
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displaying nearly 400 objects. Categories range from the naked
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body to the classical body to the pregnant body and the aging
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body. So every year there are usually,
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I think, 4 Co chairs and they're typically celebrities or like
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influential fashion people. So this year they have Beyoncé,
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Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams and Anna Wintour.
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Notably, this was Beyoncé's first Met Gala in a decade.
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Her last one was 2016, and the first with Anna Wintour
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appearing as her new role in Conde Nast's chief content
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officer rather than as Vogue editor in chief.
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All right, here's where the controversy really comes in.
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So Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez Bezos were honorary chairs as
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the lead sponsors. This is the first time that a
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private individual has stepped up as the lead sponsor.
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So apparently Jeff Bezos and Lawrence Sanchez Bezos as
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honorary Co chairs. They reportedly gave about $10
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million to the event. And having billionaires fronting
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this event as opposed to a corporate brand has kind of
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unsettled people. Even before the MC gala began,
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New York City streets were covered with posters urging
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boycott of the quote Bezos Met Ball, accusing Bezos of worker
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exploitation and drawing links between Amazon and controversial
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practices such as their involvement with ICE.
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The backlash has taken several forms.
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First, organizers like the Service Employees International
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Union and the Amazon Labor Union were running an alternative
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event called the Ball Without Billionaires, where everyday
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workers hosted their own fashion show.
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They were like strutting down the runway and outfits by
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ethical designers to spotlight labor and sustainability issues.
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New York's mayor Zoran Mamdani said he would not attend the
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event, saying he'd rather focus on pressing city issues like
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affordability than a red carpet. Some other big names skip the
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gala, which is taken in protest. Although I guess we'll probably
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never know, including Zendaya, Anya Taylor Joy and Olivia
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Rodrigo. And something that I think is
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flying under the radar a little bit, probably because they want
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this to fly under the radar, is there was this UK activist group
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who goes by Everybody Hates Elon on Instagram.
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And they placed hundreds of small bottles filled with what
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appeared to be urine inside the Met.
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Protesters said the pea bottles were meant to call attention to
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allegations that some Amazon workers have had to urinate in
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bottles because of strict bathroom rules and punishing
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productivity quotas at the company.
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And organizers of the protest also staged signs and messages
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around the city. And also like, taped to the
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bottles that said, like, boycott the Bezos Met Gala.
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Apparently a museum security dealt with the situation before
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the gala got underway. Removed all of them that they
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could basically see, I guess. So why was this such a big deal?
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I mean, the Met Gala is one of fashion's most exclusive nights.
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Tickets this year reportedly cost $100,000 each, and of
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course that goes to the museum. But people feel like bringing in
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a private billionaire sponsor has amplified A broader cultural
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conversation about wealth, influence, cultural power and
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fairness at a moment when we are already in the thick of debating
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and fighting for workers rights and wealth inequality and all of
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that kind of stuff. And the fact that it's the Met
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Gala specifically, I think hasn't really helped the Bezos
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cause here. Despite being a fundraiser for
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the arts, the Met Gala under Anna Wintour has kind of turned
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into like this opulent display of wealth.
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It almost feels more like a circus, not in a bad way, like
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I'm not saying that to be shady about it, but it feels like a
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larger than life display of like opulent wealth and I understand
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there is a lot of like art involved in it.
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Of course it feels like this display of like status and
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exclusivity and money rather than a true celebration of the
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Costume Institute anymore. And so with Bezos at the helm,
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it particularly hits this nerve for everyone.
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That being said, there are some people arguing that this is what
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we keep begging billionaires to do, fund the arts.
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So Diaprada put up a carousel asking for people's opinions on
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this. They shared a carousel of tweets
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and like thread posts and stuff from people who were kind of
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defending that stance. And then they asked for opinions
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in the comments section. So let me read you a couple of
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the carousel threads. A little off balance.
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Wrote every year for the last about three years people
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meltdown about the Met Gala. Doesn't suck that Bezos is
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involved, absolutely. But this is a fundraiser for the
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Costume Institute. When we say things like what
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happened to rich people funding the arts and libraries, this is
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exactly what we mean. We want this.
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This is them doing that. Let them spend their money on
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this for the arts and find something else to cry about on
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the Internet. OK, chill.
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Jessel Tank, queen of Real Housewives of New York City, the
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reboot she said met Monday. I know there's a lot of backlash
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this year, but I do love the creative expression it gives
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designers to tap into their most wildest, most ridiculous
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fantasies. My two cents.
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And then this is a TikTok from a creator, Moda Mensch.
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I just want to get ahead of everyone else's yearly Met Gala
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takes. The Met Gala is a charity event.
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It is a fundraiser for the Costume Institute, which
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overseas the study and preservation of fashion history.
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The Costume Institute contains, studies and preserves over
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30,000 garments from over 700 years from all around the world.
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The Costume Institute is also the only department that has to
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entirely fund itself, and preserving textiles is
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incredibly difficult. It's not as easy as preserving
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wood or stone or metal, and it takes an extraordinary amount of
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work to keep these historical artifacts because that's what
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they are, in pristine condition. The Met Gala is not a mere
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costume party, and the themes exist to showcase pieces from
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certain designers, cultural movements, points in time,
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places, or design philosophy. It's more of an exhibit.
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The Met Gala's theme this year explores the fact that fashion
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is art. It's also important to note that
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both the Met and the Costume Institute are.
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Pay what you can for New York State residents, and the Met
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also has a free online presence that anyone can browse.
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So while we understand that it's jar and infuriating see these
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ostentatious displays of wealth. Well, we can all barely afford
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gas and groceries. It's important to remember that
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the money that was raised and donated by these very wealthy
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people funds the work that regular non wealthy people are
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doing in the Costume Institute. Fashion is seen as something
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that is women's work or like a women's thing.
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So a lot of people are very comfortable with treating
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fashion like it's something frivolous.
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But in reality, the study of fashion history is one of the
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most intimate ways to study and understand history itself
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because these are things that we're directly in contact with
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our bodies every single day. These are things that everyone
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wore and everyone's saw every day.
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Garments tell a story that few other historical artifacts truly
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can. In an ideal world, we would have
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public funding for this sort of thing.
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But we don't, and the Costume Institute needs to be funded
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now, so we have this instead. And it's important not to treat
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this museum fundraiser with unique scrutiny, because it
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upholds the idea that it's morally reprehensible to support
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or fund fashion at all. I'm going to say in general,
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this is not a super popular argument, saying like, well, if
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they're funding the Met Gala then they're funding the arts
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and this is what we ask of billionaires isn't really going
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down very well. For the people who are defending
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that take or at least like bringing that take to the
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forefront on Instagram, a user named Meredith Clare wrote this
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totally misses the point. There are obscenely wealthy
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donors every year and for the most part people look past that.
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This year, the honorary Co chairs are simultaneously and
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very openly supporting our fascist government while they
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support genocide at home and abroad.
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That's what people have trouble swallowing.
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I'm sure the Met could have found a number of obscenely
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wealthy donors to honor this year like they have in the past,
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who are also not puppets for the Trump administration.
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And then Hold Your Heart on Instagram wrote they can give
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money to museums without throwing pompous events to
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flaunt their wealth because they don't actually do shit.
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If they really care about preserving the Costume
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Institute, they'll keep it going whether or not people care about
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the first Monday in May. For years there has been
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speculation that Jeff Bezos is trying to buy Conde Nast, or at
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least trying to buy Vogue for Lauren Sanchez.
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So I think, I think that this is one step closer to that goal.
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I think where there's smoke, there's fire.
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If there are rumors like that and they've been going around
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for years, like it's probably true.
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Like they probably are trying to buy Conde Nast.
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So I'm assuming that is why the Bezos became the Bezos.
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I don't know how to say their last name together.
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The Bezos's became the sponsors, the main sponsors this year.
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So in general, I would say there were like 4 categories of looks.
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The first one, I would say quite naked, a quite naked category,
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Kendall and Kylie, they fell into this.
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They were in kind of similar ish outfits and they both had these
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like strapless bras showing. And a lot of people believe
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those are the Skims nipple bras and I think they are too.
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And I don't know if, like, Skims was a sponsor or paid them to
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wear those bras on the red carpet or if it's some part of
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some like, larger marketing play, but I think that's what
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they were wearing. Kylie's look was really
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reminiscent of like the paper dolls that we had as kids.
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And we would put like, little paper clothing on them.
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I really liked her outfit. Gigi Hadid was also pretty
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naked. Like, there was definitely like
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a naked category, which like, went with the theme, right?
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The second category of looks was like, I would say the very
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literal looks. Emma Chamberlain and Sabine
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Getty, they showed up wearing essentially like paintings, like
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dresses as paintings or paintings as dresses.
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Hunter Schaefer, She was emulating a painting and same
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with Enoki. Her look was called Black
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Madonna. That's what she called it in an
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interview that she did. But she had this like golden
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statue vibe to her. She was really like emulating a
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statue. I think her look was my favorite
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of this category. Bad Bunny showing up as an old
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man. Again, aging bodies was part of
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a theme. He was also apparently wearing
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Zara. Heidi Klum came as a statue.
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And when I say as a statue, like I mean as a statue, like it was
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not some chic hot interpretation.
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She was a statue was the most Heidi Klum thing that I've ever
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seen in my life. She literally went as like a
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Halloween costume and as the queen of Halloween.
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That tracks. Then there was like the low key
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category. So these were the more subdued
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outfits like Haley Bieber, Margot Robbie, like the
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silhouettes. I would say we're very subdued
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as well. Charlie XCX, Rosie from
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Blackpink, Camila Mendez, Amanda Seyfried, Sarah Pigeon.
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Honestly some of these looks, I swear girls in Bondi are wearing
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them to bondless branches. I'm not joking.
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I feel like some of them like you could they could wear these
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dresses to any other red carpet event like this is the Met Gala.
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I say this every year. This is the Met Gala, it's for
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the Costume Institute, and it has a reputation now of you
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being able to wear whatever the fuck you want and literally just
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going over the top. Like, why would you not take
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that opportunity? And of course, not everyone has
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a list with huge budgets or access to stylists and fashion
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houses and things like that. So I understand that there's
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gonna be like a spectrum here of what people are wearing on the
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red carpet. But to those who have the
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resources, like Haley Bieber, Margot Robbie, like, why are you
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not showing up? I mean, I know why you're not
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showing up. It's like, not really your vibe.
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But like, come on, give us more. I feel like I need more.
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And then the 4th category of looks on the red carpet were
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looks at like incorporated props, I would say.
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So Sabrina Carpenter fell into this category.
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She was wearing a dress made of film.
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So it was like film reel that apparently had deleted scenes
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from Audrey Hepburn's film Sabrina on it.
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Katy Perry, you guys. She looked like a space nun.
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OK. She had this like weird
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futuristic like space helmet that had a little door that
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covered her face. And considering her history with
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the nun community, I don't think they would appreciate this type
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of LAR ping. I swear she looked like a
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futuristic space nun. And unfortunately, a truly
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iconic reaction gift has already come out of her outfit.
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So there is this like gift that's going around where she's
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looking to the side and then she sees the camera that's filming
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her. She looks to the camera and her
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like little space helmet thing is open.
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Like the door on her face is open.
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And then she stares at the camera and she slams a shut.
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In this category, there were a lot of hands.
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Like ensembles that had hands grabbing at them, hands showing
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them off, like showing off their faces, people wearing hands as
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part of their dress. Jordan Roth had like half a
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person draping over them. Lena Mafouf had hands holding up
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her boobs. Ashley Grandma kind of liked
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this touch. I think it was intentional.
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She had silver on her fingers. I feel like it was reminiscent
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of her like having just like painted or sculpted something.
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It kind of gave like artiste. Oh and I really liked Janelle
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Monáe. Of course she was dressed as
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nature being overtaken by tech. Like it couldn't have been more
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appropriate for the theme. Made sense for the theme, but
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also the fact that the Met Gala was hosted or sponsored or
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whatever by Jeff Bezos. Like couldn't have been more
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relevant, but I think my favorite outfit of the whole
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night and also falls into this category was Nishapat Supa.
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So I will leave you with this take from Mandy Lee about the
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outfit. And this is how you win the Met
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Gala Best dress, best interpretation of a theme.
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She wins. The dress code for the Met Gala
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this season is. Fashion is art with an emphasis
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on body. What better part of the body to
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highlight other than the hands in a world of AI?
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For everyone is craving A handcrafted touch, and to make
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it even better, the hands move. It's fashion, it's technology,
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it's innovation, and it's on theme but super creative.
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She said she was inspired by the creation of Adam from the
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Sistine Chapel. What an insane interpretation of
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a piece of art that we're all very familiar with.
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All right guys. Well, that's it for mini scroll
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today. Please let me know who your
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favorite was of the night or who shocked you, disappointed you.
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I'm very interested to hear. I love you guys.
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Thank you so much for listening. Please Spotify star rate US.
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Annabelle, we'll talk to you guys tomorrow and then I will
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talk to you on Thursday. Bye.
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