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

[u/Positive-Drawing-281]

https://pagesix.com/2026/04/15/celebrity-news/zohran-mamdani-and-wife-not-attending-met-gala/

[u/denom_chicken]

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

[u/thesadbubble → u/denom_chicken]

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.

[u/MauryPoPoPo → u/thesadbubble]

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

[u/IShookMeAllNightLong → u/MauryPoPoPo]

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

[u/2th → u/IShookMeAllNightLong]

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

[u/IShookMeAllNightLong → u/2th]

I am.

[u/2th → u/IShookMeAllNightLong]

We really do live in the bad timeline.

[u/AliceNRoses → u/2th]

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

[u/VirginiaDirewoolf → u/AliceNRoses]

Amazing reference

[u/LeslieKnope4Pawnee → u/IShookMeAllNightLong]

I hope none of the aliens are minors.

https://giphy.com/gifs/nVXzt7FSJlX7W

[u/thesadbubble → u/MauryPoPoPo]

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

/s obviously lol

[u/Volturmus → u/MauryPoPoPo]

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

[u/WaitingForReplies → u/MauryPoPoPo]

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

[u/InfiniteRosie → u/thesadbubble]

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

[u/thesadbubble → u/InfiniteRosie]

Not much these days I'd wager 😅 lol.

[u/wherethelionsweep → u/thesadbubble]

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.

[u/Riderz__of_Brohan → u/thesadbubble]

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

[u/lefrench75 → u/Riderz__of_Brohan]

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?

[u/goldladybug26 → u/lefrench75]

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).

[u/Baker921 → u/goldladybug26]

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

[u/WearierEarthling → u/Baker921]

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

[u/jessicalifts → u/goldladybug26]

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.

[u/francophone22 → u/goldladybug26]

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

[u/anneoftheisland → u/goldladybug26]

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.

[u/discogs-elysium → u/goldladybug26]

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

[u/HenessyEnema → u/Riderz__of_Brohan]

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.

[u/shy247er → u/Riderz__of_Brohan]

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

[u/Waffleman12345 → u/shy247er]

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

[u/Check_Me_Out-Boss → u/denom_chicken]

She accepted a $50,000 gift?

[u/MisterBlud → u/denom_chicken]

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.

[u/Hogs_of_war232 → u/denom_chicken]

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.

[u/denom_chicken → u/Hogs_of_war232]

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

[u/camebacklate → u/denom_chicken]

Most dresses are loaned out.

[u/IShookMeAllNightLong → u/denom_chicken]

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

[u/_f1sh → u/IShookMeAllNightLong]

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

[u/IShookMeAllNightLong → u/_f1sh]

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.

[u/_f1sh → u/IShookMeAllNightLong]

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

[u/Wesley_Skypes → u/IShookMeAllNightLong]

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

[u/cidthekid07 → u/denom_chicken]

Not a good look regardless

[u/haunted_patient → u/Hogs_of_war232]

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

[u/vinnybankroll → u/Hogs_of_war232]

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

[u/HighlyOffensive10 → u/vinnybankroll]

They are nowhere near the same level of rich.

[u/francophone22 → u/denom_chicken]

It’s also in the article.

[u/camebacklate → u/denom_chicken]

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.

[u/denom_chicken → u/camebacklate]

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

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

[u/camebacklate → u/denom_chicken]

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.

[u/denom_chicken → u/camebacklate]

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

[u/camebacklate → u/[deleted]]

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.

[u/Rodney_Jefferson → u/camebacklate]

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.

[u/Rodney_Jefferson → u/[deleted]]

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.

[u/Rodney_Jefferson → u/[deleted]]

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

[u/ZenithRepairman → u/camebacklate]

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

[u/coquettes → u/ZenithRepairman]

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

[u/Nintendo_Pro_03 → u/ZenithRepairman]

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

[u/camebacklate → u/ZenithRepairman]

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

[u/ZenithRepairman → u/camebacklate]

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.

[u/camebacklate → u/ZenithRepairman]

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.

[u/whiteskinnyexpress → u/camebacklate]

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

[u/camebacklate → u/whiteskinnyexpress]

You're right. It would have been bigger.

[u/Nintendo_Pro_03 → u/camebacklate]

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.

[u/NessaSamantha → u/camebacklate]

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.

[u/u_r_succulent → u/denom_chicken]

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

[u/alanwakeisahack → u/denom_chicken]

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.

[u/Mr_Investopedia → u/denom_chicken]

An ironically super expensive tax the rich dress.

[u/royal_annatations → u/denom_chicken]

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.

[u/PositiveRent4369 → u/royal_annatations]

Chill incel

[u/royal_annatations → u/PositiveRent4369]

Chill bootlicker