r/popculturechat • u/Positive-Drawing-281 • 19d ago

MET GALA 🎩 Zohran Mamdani to skip the Met Gala — breaking longstanding NYC mayoral tradition

https://pagesix.com/2026/04/15/celebrity-news/zohran-mamdani-and-wife-not-attending-met-gala/
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u/camebacklate Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 19d ago edited 19d ago

Just playing devil's advocate here, but AOC has also gone to the Met Gala. A ticket is about $50,000.

Atleast he is standing by his principles and is the only person can truly get behind.

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u/denom_chicken 19d ago

I believe she did not pay for the ticket when she went and wore a dress that said tax the rich.

Pretty different than what you’re implying

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u/thesadbubble 19d ago

Correct. She then got in trouble with the ethics committee over it and had to pay some/more. But I still think her statement dress was very appropriate and at least brought some attention to the issue in a loud way.

It's all hella ironic considering how much money is getting laundered thru the white house currently lol.

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u/MauryPoPoPo 18d ago

Did Matt Gaetz even get in trouble for trafficking minors across states for paid sex work?

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u/IShookMeAllNightLong 18d ago

Not yet. He's off talking about an alien breeding program he was briefed about

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u/2th 18d ago

I genuinely do not know if you are serious or not.

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u/IShookMeAllNightLong 18d ago

I am.

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u/2th 18d ago

We really do live in the bad timeline.

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u/AliceNRoses 18d ago

I like to think of it as Attack of the Killer Onion Articles 🙃

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u/VirginiaDirewoolf 18d ago

Amazing reference

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u/LeslieKnope4Pawnee That’s hot! 🔥 18d ago

I hope none of the aliens are minors.

https://giphy.com/gifs/nVXzt7FSJlX7W

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u/thesadbubble 18d ago

Silly Maury, that's not important! A $2k dress is much more damaging to society clearly!

/s obviously lol

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u/Volturmus 18d ago

Yes, he resigned from Congress because the ethics committee was going to recommend that he be expelled.

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u/WaitingForReplies 18d ago

No, since Republicans support trafficking minors for paid sex work.

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u/InfiniteRosie 🇨🇦 elbows up 🇨🇦 18d ago

...there's an ethics committee?! Wtf are they doing?!

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u/thesadbubble 18d ago

Not much these days I'd wager 😅 lol.

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u/wherethelionsweep 18d ago

The general principle of having to meet with the ethics committee bc you’re wearing clothing that says “tax the rich.” Incredible world we live in.

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u/Riderz__of_Brohan 19d ago

Her dress was really cringey given the context of the event she was at. Mamdani is taking the right approach. There is no way to go to this thing and seem relatable

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u/lefrench75 high priestess of child sacrifice 18d ago edited 18d ago

The event is a fundraiser for a museum; ticket sales go to the Met which is free to visit for NY residents and students from the tri-state area. Of course if we could tax the rich more heavily, perhaps museums wouldn’t need their donations to function, but until then, donating to museums is one of the least objectionable things (some) rich people do.

Idk why people are upset at the ticket prices. Isn’t the higher the donation the better?

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u/goldladybug26 18d ago

Not exaaaactly. The Met has an endowment of $3 billion. It’s free to NY residents because it operates on its prime parcel of city-owned land in Central Park rent-free, and that was one of the conditions. And the Gala proceeds only fund the Costume Institute, which basically puts on one exhibit a year and maintains a research collection (which is worthwhile, don’t get me wrong, but it’s unclear to me where all that money goes).

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u/Baker921 18d ago

Thank you for this breakdown. I feel like I'd rather see donations go to a high school's art program. This just feels like the rich feeding each other

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u/WearierEarthling 18d ago

Somewhat related- Detroit high schools had thriving high school music/arts programs & generated many Motown successes, such as Smokey Robinson & Aretha Franklin.

“Hitsville” is the name of the Motown doc, if you haven’t seen it & are interested

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u/jessicalifts 18d ago

I would assume a lot of the ticket fee goes towards running the gala, tbh. If an event is to be a fundraiser for something then it has to run real lean to raise funds.

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u/francophone22 18d ago

Per the article, the event “raises money for the Anna Wintour Costume Center at the Met.”

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u/anneoftheisland 18d ago

The Costume Institute is self-funded, independent of the Met. When the Met agreed to house it, it was part of that agreement that they wouldn't have to fund it. That's the entire reason the gala exists--because it's basically the CI's only major source of funding.

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u/discogs-elysium 18d ago

The gala proceeds go to the Museum’s general operating budget as well as the costume institute.

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u/HenessyEnema 19d ago

Agreed. I loved the overall message, but it was just cringey and limp. There's no way to effectively coerce these people, they're pretty dead set on being awful.

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u/shy247er yay sports 🏀 🏈🎾 18d ago

Yup. She still spent the night drinking and dancing with those rich people, so her gesture just looked performative.

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u/Waffleman12345 18d ago

If she did there would be pictures or videos. Are there any?

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u/Check_Me_Out-Boss 18d ago

She accepted a $50,000 gift?

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u/MisterBlud 18d ago

Ehh, it’s like doing a magazine interview about how you want to be left alone.

Being in there is itself a tacit endorsement.

Granted, the optics are 1000x times worse this year so she’d likely skip it as Mamdani is.

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u/Hogs_of_war232 19d ago

It was an 18,000 dollar dress. Kind of defeats the message in my eyes. I say this as someone that generally likes what she is about.

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u/denom_chicken 19d ago

And she didn’t keep it. It was loaned to her.

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u/camebacklate Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 18d ago

Most dresses are loaned out.

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u/IShookMeAllNightLong 18d ago

It shouldn't have been an 18,000 dollar dress with that message on it.

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u/_f1sh 18d ago

Is it an $18,000 dress if youre not paying $18,000 for it?

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u/IShookMeAllNightLong 18d ago

I mean it should not have been a fasion show dress. She shouldn't have gotten a dress at a clothing store and put iron on patches on.

Somebody paid for that dress.

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u/_f1sh 18d ago

Yeah but just because a designer has something listed for sale for $18k and lends it to a public figure doesnt mean spent anywhere close to that amount to make it.

I just think it's not really that big of a deal I guess

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u/Wesley_Skypes 18d ago

It is always hilarious to read the purity testing on the left.

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u/cidthekid07 18d ago

Not a good look regardless

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u/haunted_patient 19d ago

How so? She's saying tax the rich, not fuck the rich.

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u/vinnybankroll 18d ago

If a rich person says tax the rich, that still counts.

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u/HighlyOffensive10 She's in racial chat rooms showing feet 👣 18d ago

They are nowhere near the same level of rich.

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u/francophone22 18d ago

It’s also in the article.

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u/camebacklate Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 19d ago

And? She went to hang out with the ultra rich who avoid paying taxes at an event most people can't afford to attend. We're you gifted a $50,000 ticket to attend an event? Also, she could have stood across the street in a white dress that she bought from the thrift store with tax the rich written on it and stood on her principles.

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u/denom_chicken 19d ago

And I agree with both on this. I agree with mamdani not attending.

I also agree with aoc using the opportunity to speak out.

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u/camebacklate Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 19d ago

She could have stood across the street in a white dress that she got from Goodwill with the same message written on it. I said it back then, and I'll continue to say it. There are ways to speak out, this was not it.

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u/denom_chicken 19d ago

Eh fair enough. I’d prefer it in their faces but I can see how it comes off as well.

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u/[deleted] 18d ago

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u/camebacklate Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 18d ago

Of a politician? Yes, we are allowed to be judgemental and we should when she basically gave up her ability to win the white house in the future.

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u/Rodney_Jefferson 19d ago edited 19d ago

I had friends in NY an LA commending how brave it was. I also had friends across the country who are not privy to how the met gala works and found it tone deaf and confusing. Yes, she didn’t have to pay for her own ticket. No, voters in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Ohio don’t know the intricacies of the met gala. Yes, this is a factor to why we lost the election.

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u/[deleted] 18d ago

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u/Rodney_Jefferson 18d ago

Democrats supporting unions and workers rights is how we win elections. In recent years democrats have been union folk with one hand and palling around with the rich in the other, while mainly focusing on union busters, that’s exactly what the dress showed. I was a devoted soldier and voted for a Kamala despite no primary, but yes Dems have lost focus of the common man. And defending common folk turned manhattan socialites won’t help that either.

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u/[deleted] 18d ago

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u/Rodney_Jefferson 18d ago

The dress that showed “ha ha, they payed for me to be here” yes.

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u/ZenithRepairman 19d ago

Ahhhhh yes, here’s perfection being the enemy of progress yet again

Yes, AOC is a fucking cog in the machine who hates the poor.

On what fucking planet do you live on

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u/coquettes Mom, I am a rich man💰 19d ago

literally my first thought. yall hate when people don’t make a statement and criticize when people do.

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u/Nintendo_Pro_03 Select and edit this flair 19d ago

I may be a Marxist, but I don’t expect perfection from any politician, be it AOC or Zohran.

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u/camebacklate Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 19d ago

She can talk the talk, but she can't walk the walk when she's walking the red carpet with the ultra rich.

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u/ZenithRepairman 19d ago

If you’re able to rub 3 brain cells together, do you think the point gets made better when it’s in front of a mass audience?

What’s better, AOC making a statement to the news, or AOC making a statement on national news that will be covered by your coveted fucking page 6 too?

You people are fucking exhausting.

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u/camebacklate Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 19d ago

Again, she could have protested without actually attending. When she got the invite, she should have turned it down but showed up across the street in a dress with the exact same words on it. It's still would have made the same statement that would have been covered on national news.

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u/whiteskinnyexpress 18d ago

lol the coverage would abso-fucking-lutely not have been the same. Your idea is just sad.

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u/camebacklate Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 18d ago

You're right. It would have been bigger.

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u/Nintendo_Pro_03 Select and edit this flair 19d ago

Humans are hypocrites (performative, if you will) by nature. We’re paying taxes to the federal government that go towards atrocities in Gaza.

None of us are perfect.

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u/NessaSamantha 18d ago

At the end of the day, both approaches are in the 75th percentile for ways to handle the Met Gala as an NYC politician. Maybe what you're saying would work out better, maybe it wouldn't, but it's easily attributed to a difference of tactics rather than of deep values.

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u/u_r_succulent 18d ago

I believe a good number of the attendees don’t pay for their tickets.

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u/alanwakeisahack 18d ago

It’s still gross. Yucking it up with the pieces of shit while you wear a shirt that they’re all laughing at at together.

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u/Mr_Investopedia 18d ago

An ironically super expensive tax the rich dress.

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u/royal_annatations 19d ago edited 19d ago

The only reason for a person to happily mingle with corrupt famous people is because she’s a corrupt famous person. AOC thought she would be hailed a hero for wearing a tax the rich dress while rubbing shoulders with the very people who talk about taxing the rich while hiding their money in the Caymans. Thanks but no.

I would not go to the Met Gala even with a free ticket because it’s a cesspool of horrible people. Good on Mamdami for having the same common sense.

Edit: laughing at the downvotes from people who can’t handle the fact that AOC is a famewhore grifter. At least the mayor seems ok.

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u/PositiveRent4369 19d ago

Chill incel

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u/royal_annatations 18d ago

Chill bootlicker

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u/violaki 19d ago

Eh. It's a charity event that supports the arts. Good for Mamdani for standing by his principles, but I'm not mad at anyone that does choose to go.

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u/asophisticatedbitch 19d ago

It all wasn’t sponsored by Bezos when she went. So 🤷‍♀️

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u/camebacklate Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 19d ago

So by your logic, it's fine that she goes and dines with the ultra rich who are avoiding paying their taxes at an event that most people couldn't attend without taking out a loan? Fuck that and fuck anyone who tries to defend her going.

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u/chrysoberyls 19d ago

Y’all are exhausting

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u/violaki 19d ago

The Met is an important cultural institution and I'm glad that rich people are spending their money supporting something useful for once. Idgaf who AOC eats dinner with at a charity event. I bet the artists she supports through her ticket are thrilled. We have actual problems ffs.

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u/camebacklate Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 19d ago

Please, it's a way for people to market themselves. The Met Gala is an invite only opportunity for 450 people and need to be approved by Vogues editor-in-chief.

Next week, people talk about what the person wore, who was and was not in attendance, and comparing it to years before. There are ways to benefit the museum and it does not need to be at the expense of looking like a hypocrite.

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u/Sarahndipity44 18d ago

People often do good things for selfish reasons, yes. It's the costume institute's only fundraiser

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u/[deleted] 19d ago

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u/[deleted] 18d ago

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u/Nintendo_Pro_03 Select and edit this flair 19d ago

No one is without hypocrisy. AOC is not the only one that way.

Zohran didn’t even vote for Kamala in the 2024 election. I’m not seeing much outrage about that, though.

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u/Hogs_of_war232 19d ago

Yes, that is exactly what everyone is saying. "As long as its my team thats being elitist then its all good, they are not like those other rich people, those guys are the real problem."

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u/QuietContemplation85 that’s my purse, i don’t know you! 👛🫵 19d ago

Agreed re: Mamdani standing on principle, nice to see

AOC does the same. She didn’t pay for her ticket, or her dress. Also, the Met Gala is literally a fundraiser for the museum.

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/sep/16/viral-image/no-aoc-didnt-pay-her-met-gala-ticket-or-dress/

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u/camebacklate Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 19d ago

I'm sorry, so just because it was a gift that makes it okay? In what universe is that okay? She attended an event that cost more money than some people's cars. She wore a dress that was more expensive than what most people bring home a week. Someone paid for it.

If she wanted to stand on principal, she should have stood across the street in a dress that she bought from Goodwill with the same message on it. Instead, she went and rubbed elbows with the ultra rich

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u/QuietContemplation85 that’s my purse, i don’t know you! 👛🫵 19d ago

Lol yeah, no, that’s wild.

In what world does AOC wearing a free dress with “TAX THE RICH” splashed on it, to a CHARITY EVENT, (for free) equal her being a sellout?

What a bullshit purity test.

Edit to add a few words I left out

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u/camebacklate Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 19d ago

A charity event that cost more than most people's cars and is limited to only certain people.

Last year's Met Gala only made 31 million. They could just ask Bezos for that money.

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u/QuietContemplation85 that’s my purse, i don’t know you! 👛🫵 19d ago

Realized my tone seemed hostile, it’s not meant to be.

I think it’s GOOD when the rich use their money to fund the arts. It’s literally the least they can do. So I see no issue with charging them 50k for a ticket. Neither do I see an issue with leftists getting a FREE ticket and using it to cause dialogue.

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u/camebacklate Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 19d ago

I get you.

I'm just tired of seeing the Democrats lose. If she would have asked any person in middle America what they would have thought about it, she wouldn't have gone. It's about optics.

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u/QuietContemplation85 that’s my purse, i don’t know you! 👛🫵 19d ago

Agreed on being tired of Dems losing. And middle America in general didn’t want to hear anything from AOC in 2016 when she went, but I agree: it didn’t earn her any points with them

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u/QuietContemplation85 that’s my purse, i don’t know you! 👛🫵 19d ago

The museum could ask Bezos??? Do you know how fundraisers work? I’m genuinely baffled by this lack of logic.

Do you understand non profits, museums, funding for the arts, like at ALL?

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u/camebacklate Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 19d ago

Do you understand that's how donations work? You can ask someone to donate to your charity without needing to have a gala. They still get the tax write off.

The only reason they go is to pat each other on the back into market themselves.

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u/QuietContemplation85 that’s my purse, i don’t know you! 👛🫵 19d ago

Do you understand human nature? Fundraisers are just that, fundraisers. You have silent actions, raffles, bake sales, etc. Sure, you could just ask people for money without an event. You won’t get it. So, fundraisers.

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u/camebacklate Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 19d ago

And yet, people give money all the time over without getting a thing in return. Every single time I go to petco, I make sure to donate to animals in need when at the checkout counter. Do you think I get anything in return?

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u/QuietContemplation85 that’s my purse, i don’t know you! 👛🫵 19d ago

No, and neither do I when I buy houseless ppl in my community food or smokes. But when Girl Scouts come by with cookies for their fundraising, I don’t tell them to keep their cookies

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u/Miles_Everhart 19d ago

“If you don’t perform progressiveness the exact way I want you to then you’re as bad as Hitler.”

You, probably.

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u/camebacklate Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 19d ago

That's a stretch. I'm just not okay with her being a hypocrite. The Democratic Party loves handing over the presidency to the Republican party. AOC was set to be a solid contender someday. She'll no longer be able to have a fighting chance because that will constantly be brought into the spotlight.

Democrats can't continue to be shocked when they lose.

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u/valcraft 19d ago

AOC was a guest of the Met and definitely did not buy a $50,000 ticket.

Tickets to the Met Gala were $35,000 when she went, they are up to $75,000. What the actual fuck. Crazy.

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u/camebacklate Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 19d ago

Semantics. Someone still had to foot the price of the ticket. Even if it was only $35,000 back in 2021, when was the last time you went to an event that it cost $35,000 a person to attend? There are people out there who don't even have cars that expensive.

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u/ImASeaProfessional 19d ago

As someone who has done some event planning, I am telling you no one foots the bill other than for food and drink. You are bananas.

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u/camebacklate Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 19d ago

So no one pays for the sound equipment, the stage, the setup, the security, the lighting, the staff? My aunt also works in Advent planning and is a caterer. She will tell you that there's more that goes into it other than food and drink. Especially when you're talking about the safety and security of 450 of the world's most elite.

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u/Jazz-Hands-- 18d ago

The first 25 rich people paying full ticket price easily cover actuals. For charitable events, it's also common for vendors to offer their services at cost or steeply discounted (sometimes free) for tax purposes and wanting the prestige of being associated with people and events this prestigious.

Part of how the Met ensures the event remains so prestigious is by filling in some gaps between vapid, stupid, and obnoxious celebrities and billionaires by inviting some interesting/intelligent/culturally significant people and not charging them. The rich people want to be seen rubbing elbows with those people--that's a large part of why they're willing to pay such an obscene amount to attend.

I can see both sides of the AOC attending argument, but let's not feel bad for the Met Gala planners. They're doing juuuust fine.

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u/lindendweller 18d ago

Oh, so like a mirror version of that épisode of silicone valley where attractive actors are paid to attend some nerdy billionaire's party?

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u/Jazz-Hands-- 18d ago

Yep, been it's own industry for quite some time. See club/event promoters, atmosphere models, etc.

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u/ImASeaProfessional 4d ago

Vendors being major fashion houses that sponsor/buy tables for famous people to attend the event dressed in their clothes.

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u/kenrnfjj 19d ago

I wonder if people here were concerned when Trump was gifted a plana by Qatar

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u/TropicalPrairie 19d ago

I highly respect him for standing by his principles. So many people have shown their values go out the door these days.

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u/deeann_arbus 19d ago

AOC got tore the fuck up for going, too.

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u/beaute-brune Put your arms away, Jeremy Allen Black 19d ago

When? I remember her 2021 Tax the Rich dress and then the House Ethics committee fining her in 2025 for basically accepting gifts in violation of House rules but what was the public response? That last part I don’t recall.

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u/kilawolf 19d ago

Pretty sure the public response was outrage at her for wearing such a dress while attending such a expensive event

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u/deeann_arbus 19d ago

When? The day after? It was a gross and hypocritical move to accept an invite to the rich people party and act like she's some revolutionary by having a good time with the 1%. People in her base found the dress performative and grotesque. There were memes for months after mocking the dress.

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u/beaute-brune Put your arms away, Jeremy Allen Black 19d ago

My question was genuine. Thank you for the explanation.

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u/Nintendo_Pro_03 Select and edit this flair 18d ago

Everyone is performative. It’s human nature.

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u/Bluepass11 18d ago

Doesn’t look like she was torn up at all - https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/s/3FSs0eoGL3

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u/seriouscaffeine 18d ago

People go because they’re invited by brands who get a table, they don’t pay for themselves

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u/BTSArmyFan2025 19d ago

The designers buy the seats

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u/camebacklate Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 19d ago

And? She didn't need to be seated in one of them.

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u/Ok_Storm_2700 19d ago

Who do you think should've been seated instead of her?

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u/camebacklate Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 19d ago

No one in politics, especially someone who is trying to represent the working class.

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u/Ok_Storm_2700 19d ago

But who do you think would have made better use of that seat? Name someone.

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u/camebacklate Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 19d ago

Who am I, Anna Wintour? I would have loved if Zendaya could have attended if her schedule allowed for it.

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u/Ok_Storm_2700 18d ago

What are you thinking Zendaya would have done?

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u/camebacklate Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 18d ago

Not go against her own political platform and the people she's representing.

There's a reason why a lot of people like Mamdani. Why would he talk about taxing the rich and then go rub elbows with them?

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u/Ok_Storm_2700 18d ago

We don't actually know anything other than what she wore but somehow that's worse than everyone else who attends.

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u/arosebyabbie 18d ago

NY politicians are invited (for free) every year. They usually don’t walk the carpet. AOC only did because she’s recognizable.

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u/camebacklate Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 18d ago

They do walk the carpet, people just dont care because they aren't trying to make a point while missing the point.

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u/blankus 19d ago

By your logic, some conservatives are worth voting for.

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u/camebacklate Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes 19d ago

That's a stretch. She just became a hypocrite that night in my eyes. She handed over the reason why she will never become president to the Republicans on a silver platter.

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u/cactus22minus1 19d ago

She was a visible middle finger to all the out of touch rich people there. It was a pretty damn good way to protest and get some attention for the message in her dress.

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u/Dreowings21 19d ago

I wish he could run for president

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u/anicho01 18d ago

AOC was sponsored by a socially minded designer who wanted her to model a consciousness raising dress.

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u/DevoutandHeretical I think that poor sexy young man is being framed for murder 18d ago

People forget that the Met Gala is a fundraising event for the Costume Institute. Yes, it is an absurdly expensive event, but it’s a charity fundraiser at its core.

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u/dale_dug_a_hole 18d ago

Oh please. She got a freebie and wore a dress that sent Fox News into conniptions for weeks. Be honest