On the eve of the 2026 Met Gala, 32 organisations from across the global tax justice, climate, labour and inequality movements signed an open letter to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Vogue, calling on both institutions to refuse to honour Jeff Bezos as honorary chair and primary sponsor of the event. 

The letter warns that the United States is “in the grip of an oligarchy,” and frames Bezos not as a bystander but as an active enabler of the Trump administration — citing his purchase and gutting of the Washington Post, reports of $75 million directed to a film promoting Melania Trump, and the use of Amazon technology in ICE operations. 

The signatories argue that handing two of the world’s most influential cultural platforms to a billionaire actively consolidating authoritarian power is a profound betrayal of what those institutions claim to stand for. 

Their demand is simple: stop celebrating those destroying democracy. End the oligarchy. Tax the super-rich.