The Met Gala is never short on headlines, but this year an unexpected “installation” turned up alongside the couture, celebrity arrivals and the reported $75,000 ticket: 300 tiny bottles of imitation urine hidden around one of the world’s most famous museums.
If anything, it may be the most conceptually on-theme moment of the entire night.
Each year, fashion’s biggest evening tends to generate a single image that dominates the conversation. This time, as Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez prepared for a party said to cost $75,000 per seat, activists were allegedly slipping dozens of small bottles in between priceless displays at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The labels reportedly featured Bezos’s face and a short call to action.
“Boycott the Bezos Met Gala.”
Despite the contents being described as water mixed with yellow food colouring, the point of the stunt was far from playful.
The event has long been a lightning rod, and this year the debate has been simmering well before attendees step onto the carpet.
After reports claimed Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sanchez, had put up an eight-figure sum to serve as honorary co-chairs and lead sponsors, criticism was swift.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani publicly declined to attend, breaking from the long-standing precedent of mayoral appearances at the gala.
Meryl Streep, newly back in the spotlight with The Devil Wears Prada 2 fuelling fashion chatter, was also reported to have turned down a co-chair role.
Zendaya, a regular presence for the past seven years and one of the gala’s most celebrated attendees, is said to be sitting this year out as well.
For weeks, boycott posters have appeared across Manhattan and Brooklyn. Now, some campaigners appear to have escalated beyond paste-ups.
The UK-based activist group Everyone Hates Elon says it placed the bottles throughout the Met on 30 April, just days ahead of the gala.
The action references long-running allegations about Amazon workplace conditions, including reports (covered by Forbes) that some warehouse and delivery workers felt pressured to urinate in bottles due to insufficient time for bathroom breaks.
Amazon has denied these allegations and has previously pushed back publicly, including inviting people to view working conditions.
“Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is chairing the Met Gala this Monday.
“His own workers sued him for being forced to piss in bottles, while Jeff is worth $280m.
“So while the Met Museum gets ready for his glitzy do, we delivered them OVER 300 bottles of piss.
“Fake piss, obviously, Jeff’s only into the real stuff.”
“The Met Gala is taking the piss by having Jeff honoured as their Gala host.”
The group is no stranger to high-profile stunts.
When Bezos and Sanchez married in Venice, they unfurled a banner above the canal that read:
“If you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can pay more tax.”
In February 2026, they reportedly placed an image of Prince Andrew in the Louvre accompanied by the caption:
“He’s sweating now”
The group has also taken aim at Amazon’s links to ICE in past poster campaigns, including visuals of tear gas canisters on red carpets alongside the line:
“Brought to you by worker exploitation.”
Everyone Hates Elon have been approached for comment..