Lauren Sánchez Walked the Met Gala Carpet Alone While Activists Cited Amazon Workers Urinating in Bottles

Sánchez wore a custom Schiaparelli gown built around an 1884 painting that scandalized Paris over a slipped strap. The painting hangs two floors above the Met Gala steps. The Bezoses reportedly spent up to $20 million sponsoring the night.

The painting Sánchez referenced is hanging in Gallery 771 of the Met’s American Wing, two floors above the Great Hall steps where she posed.

John Singer Sargent painted Madame X in 1884. The subject was Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, a Louisiana-born Creole who moved to Paris and married a much older French banker. She became one of the city’s “professional beauties,” cultivating an alabaster complexion with heavy cosmetics (and, by some accounts, arsenic-laced wafers), and was known for rumored affairs with powerful men. Sargent painted her in a black velvet gown with a plunging neckline and one jeweled strap slipping off her right shoulder.

When the portrait was unveiled at the 1884 Paris Salon, it caused an immediate uproar. Critics called it vulgar. One wrote that “one more struggle and the lady will be free.” Caricatures mocked her exposed bosom. Parisians reportedly cursed at it openly. Gautreau’s mother declared her “ruined.” Sargent later repainted the strap upright, hid the work for more than three decades, and called it his masterpiece anyway. He sold it to the Met in 1916, where it’s been part of the permanent collection ever since.

Schiaparelli creative director Daniel Roseberry recreated the slipped strap for Sánchez’s custom navy haute-couture gown, with pearl-and-crystal detailing and a corset-inspired lace-up back.

The Bezoses are reported to have contributed at least $10 million as primary sponsors of the night. Some estimates put the total closer to $20 million. Sánchez served as honorary co-chair alongside Anna Wintour, Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, and Venus Williams. Tickets ran $100,000 individually. Tables started at $350,000.

Jeff Bezos skipped the red carpet entirely. He entered through a side door and was photographed inside later.

The reaction outside the museum was loud. Activists papered the New York subway with anti-Bezos posters. Projections were beamed onto the couple’s penthouse. A rival event called “Ball Without Billionaires” ran the same night, organized around Amazon warehouse labor conditions (including reports of workers urinating in bottles due to bathroom-break shortages), the company’s tax strategies, and the broader pattern of billionaire patronage at major cultural institutions. Some brands and guests reportedly pulled back. Ticket prices softened amid the heat.

The 2026 Met Gala dress code was “Fashion Is Art” for the exhibition “Costume Art.” The painting Sánchez referenced is owned by the Met. The Bezoses sponsored the event.