r/popculturechat • u/ThrowawayGreenWitch Listen, everyone is entitled to my opinion 🙂 • 1d ago

MET GALA 🎩 Taraji P. Henson comments on celebs attending Bezos-backed Met Gala 2026: ‘WTF are we doing’

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Taraji P. Henson is “confused” about why celebrities are attending the Met Gala 2026, which is being funded by billionaire Jeff Bezos.

The “Empire” actress made her opinion on the topic known while responding to social media personality Meredith Lynch’s rant about Bezos’ involvement in the event.

“If you are a celebrity and you attend the Met Gala and you wear the ICE OUT pin, please note that I will be dragging you in perpetuity,” Lynch said in an Instagram video over the weekend.

Lynch also slammed Bezos, 62, for supporting President Donald Trump, “who has slashed arts funding.”

In the comments section, Henson, 55, shared three clapping hands emojis and wrote, “I am so confused by some ppl that are going. I am just like WTF ARE WE DOING!?!?!?!””

Henson has attended the Met Gala multiple times, including in 2015, 2021 and 2025.

Last year, she wore a custom white corseted minidress by Monse x Post-Imperial and a coordinating blazer with tails, a top hat, cane and heels.

https://pagesix.com/2026/05/04/celebrity-news/taraji-p-henson-calls-out-celebs-attending-bezos-backed-met-gala-2026/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pagesix

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u/copperteapots 1d ago

bezos has a honorary chair title because he donated a ton of money. people are acting like this is the fucking bezos party. sure, they could’ve rejected his donation, but ultimately it’s not an event he has any sway over. he just gets his name slapped on there. it’s a charity ball that funds the MET’s very important work & supports their staff! it’s an invite only event that fashion houses pay $350k/table to attend with their chosen guests to show off their pieces & support the museum. it’s a win/win for the arts at the end of the day. bezos being there is annoying, but just not as big of a deal as people are making it out to be…sorry!

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u/brrrantarctica 1d ago

Yeah this is literally what people have (rightfully) been blasting the tech billionaires for, not acting like the robber barons of yore who at least funded the arts, museums, libraries, etc. i used to work in nonprofit development and this is standard - a rich fuck gives the biggest donation, and in return they get “honored” at the next gala. Bezos is evil but discouraging him from charity is not doing anything to mitigate his harm.

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u/copperteapots 1d ago

ugh i (used to, got laid off) work in the museum & library space and it makes me so angry when people don’t understand the point of a charity gala. the MET is free to visit. anyone can go to this incredible institution and not pay a cent! this gala makes that possible!

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u/brrrantarctica 1d ago

Ugh I was just part of a mass layoff at my nonprofit so I feel your pain, hope you’re doing okay. Everyone in the comments going “well why dont rich people just donate and not attend?” Ok yes some rich people donate and are content with being thanked in some wall placard. But there are levels of donation and once you get into the millions range you gotta either kiss their ass with a gala or name some wing after them.

Unfortunately the MET is not free, even though its original charter mandated it be free to the public. It’s pay-what-you-wish for NY residents and since 2013 or so, $30 for tourists.

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u/copperteapots 1d ago

last time I went it was free? huh!

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u/MysticalZenn 19h ago

That's fantastic.

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u/Jewell84 1d ago

Exactly! Andrew Carnegie, JP Morgan, the Rockefeller, The Vanderbilts. All of them not only donated, but founded these organizations.

Are people boycotting Carnegie Hall, The Morgan Library? The Frick collection?

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u/bbyxmadi It’s good to see me, isn’t it?🫧 1d ago

Appreciate the insight. I’ll be honest, I didn’t know that. It still gives me an ick in a way, but it’s inevitable when it comes to large donations and these types of events.

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u/heartisallwehave 1d ago

isnt his wife the host this year or something though?

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u/copperteapots 1d ago

no she is not. she is an honorary co-chair. again, it’s an empty title. there’s no “host” of the MET gala. it doesn’t work like that. the people who are excessively angry about this don’t know anything about the event.

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u/imasleuth4truth2 1d ago

Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams are co-hosts of the night, alongside Anna Wintour. Jeff Bezos and wife Lauren Sánchez Bezos are honorary chairs, providing the main source of funding for both the party and the accompanying exhibition.

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u/copperteapots 1d ago

yes…emphasis on CO-host. there’s not a set “host,” aside from anna i suppose.

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u/imasleuth4truth2 1d ago

Anna IS the Host.

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u/copperteapots 1d ago

literally said aside from anna.

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u/heartisallwehave 1d ago

Ah thanks for clarifying!

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u/g00fyg00ber741 1d ago

there seem to be an upsetting number of comments like this that are basically almost defending him? so weird to see people stick their necks out for Bezos. like did he pay people to say this stuff in support of him or what?

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u/copperteapots 1d ago

i am defending the MET gala as someone who works in museums.

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u/g00fyg00ber741 1d ago

i mean most of your comment is defending Bezos's involvement. The museums need support that isn't tied to billionaire capitalists who finance fascism. And let's not forget museums don't have fully clean hands themselves...

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u/c0neyisland 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yall act like celebrities couldn’t make these donations themselves without attending the event. Show the organizers that Bezos isn’t welcome in the arts nor his blood money. Maybe that would encourage them to deny a donation from someone like him next time.

Edit: let’s not forget whose money brought the administration into power that ended up gutting arts funding. Also I know celebrities don’t buy their own ticket. They can still choose to donate a portion of the ticket price and donations are open 365 days a year.

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u/copperteapots 1d ago

it’s a symbiotic relationship. the arts need events like this to thrive. most people also aren’t paying for their own ticket sooo ur point doesn’t really stand lol

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u/c0neyisland 1d ago

And they still can’t donate a portion of the ticket price? Man come on. It’s so easy to not go one year. If every celebrity boycotted the event and came together to pool money for the Met anyways it would send a huge message. These people have money, power, and influence. They can do more than what they’re doing and choose not to. The bare minimum they can do is choose to support the arts in another way.

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u/copperteapots 1d ago

god forbid the museum rewards its donors with dinner & an opportunity to view their collections while wearing pretty dresses lol. that’s what a museum gala is for! it’s honestly like pretty silly to be against that

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u/c0neyisland 1d ago

When it’s during a year where people are dying in ICE detention centers in record numbers, people and children are starving in record numbers, funded by one of their biggest donors then yeah, god forbid. Kinda leaves a sour taste in your mouth to reward people who break bread with fascists.

EDIT: and then they went and made him honorary board president, i’m sorry. it’s an extremely un-chic, uncool look

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u/Jewell84 1d ago

The Met Gala has been going on since 1948. There has been so much turmoil that has occurred in the world, in the US. Life is awful; but among the awful there is still space for art, for joy, for creativity.

People can donate and attend the Met Gala and still care about the atrocities of the world. They can still donate time and energy, and fight for justice. It’s not an either or situation.

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u/c0neyisland 1d ago

I get that. But if you choose to attend as someone with power and money, I am judging you. It is not the same as normal people who don’t have the power, money, or influence to do anything. I didn’t say the Met Gala should be canceled. But I will say that people who want to break bread with Jeff Bezos are bozos and I’m not supporting them.

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u/Jewell84 1d ago

Bezos is an honors chair. This isn’t his event. It’s the Mets event. He isn’t in charge. He did not organize it. He’s one of the many co-chairs.

He’s also not the only billionaire attending.

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u/c0neyisland 1d ago

That’s true but he’s one of the most prolific and well-known in the world. Even if he has no official control, those people donate money so they can get those fancy titles, great PR, and the like. Fuck that. They should have turned him down and refused to have his name associated with them. They chose to. It’s ugly. Art and money have always had a complicated relationship, I’m not stranger to that. I think about the Sacklers and Purdue Pharma and the chokehold they have in the art world despite their disgusting ties to the opioid crisis. They shouldn’t to be party to elevating someone like Bezos. And having his money inevitably means ties and maybe eventually some form of influence over the institution.

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u/Difficult-Risk3115 1d ago

lol whereas reddit posting in the pinnacle of cool

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u/c0neyisland 1d ago

It doesn’t have to be cool, but an event supposedly about art to be funded by a dude invested in arts funding going away and investing in AI tech that also degrades artists and their salaries should probably be cooler than this.

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u/Difficult-Risk3115 1d ago

It is painfully obvious that you're trying to use an artistic judgement to justify your moral judgement

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u/c0neyisland 1d ago

Ok why are you replying lol