Despite some hopeful pre-Met Gala chat on socials urging celebrities to boycott this year’s event – given it’s now #sponsored by the world’s third-richest man, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, and his wife, Lauren Sanchez (a couple who embody the world’s soaring wealth inequality) – it seems many still decided to go all out.
A reminder: the Met Gala isn’t just the most anticipated event on the fashion calendar, but also a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, with tickets going for a reported $75,000 (£55,000) nearly double the average British salary. Typically, brands and fashion houses buy the tickets and invite celebs to attend, wearing their creations to celebrate creativity and generate buzz… and last night, one such buzz-generator was actor Sarah Paulson, best known for her roles in American Horror Story and the gut-punching 12 Years A Slave.
Styled in a frothy grey tulle gown from Matières Fécales’ A/W 2026 collection, known as The One Percent, Paulson accessorised with a dollar bill mask over her eyes. Fécales said of the look: “Fashion is Art and at its most daring, Political. [Paulson] is wearing the ‘Blinded by Money’ leather mask and the Destroyed Tulle Debutante Ballgown. The collection was a reflection of the greed and corruption that comes with extreme power.”
When asked the name of her look on the red carpet, Paulson just replied “The One Percent” – which, of course, is also the term used for the top 1% of ultra-wealthy individuals, who own a disproportionate amount of the world’s assets and resources (it’s reported that the richest 1.5% of people own almost half of the globe’s total wealth).
It’s also thought that many of us struggle to truly comprehend just how damaging it is that billionaires even exist while others struggle to survive, because the number is too abstract to properly digest; one helpful comparison is that one million seconds is approximately 11.5 days, while one billion seconds is over 31.5 years.
But! Back to Sarah Paulson’s attempt at a sartorial middle finger to the Met Gala's wealth porn: the Matières Fécales’ Instagram account reposted a video in which a cultural commentator, IDeserveCouture, says: “You wanted a statement at the Met Gala? Well here you go [...] This show calls out the one percent and it talks about greed and corruption, and Sarah Paulson is wearing it to an event that is exclusively for the one percent. She was a queen and she stayed a queen!”
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To play devil’s advocate, there is an argument to be made that the only way to effectively dismantle a system is to criticise it from the inside; that by occupying the space, Paulson was forcefully holding a mirror up to the people who most need to get the message – and it’s not like we haven’t seen this brand of aesthetic insurgency before.
Back in 2021, politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez donned a ‘Tax the Rich’ gown, and was slammed by those who claimed her presence invalidated her politics, overlooking the fact that she was invited as a Vogue guest (and did not pay for a ticket), and chose to use the opportunity as a chance to broadcast a message that would otherwise be left at the door.
Last year, the discourse shifted toward the ethical and cognitive dissonance of celebrating high fashion while the war in Gaza dominated headlines, sparking ‘Eat the Rich’ protests outside the museum’s gates.
So, sure, Paulson may have been attempting to say the rich are blinded by money whilst wearing a dress worth thousands, rubbing shoulders with the uber-wealthy and eating an Alexander McQueen-inspired dessert… but for the majority tuning in, it simply didn’t land. Actor Taraji P Henson, who has attended on multiple occasions, did manage it though.
Instead of playing along, Henson boldly commented on Instagram: “I am so confused by some people that are going [to the Met Gala this year]. I am just like WTF ARE WE DOING!?!?!?!” and took a minute to point out the huge wealth inequality between Bezos and those who work for Amazon, whose efforts to unionise are routinely thwarted. New York’s newly elected mayor, Zohran Mamdani, whose predecessor Eric Adams attended the Gala, also ducked out and said he would instead be working on “making the most expensive city in the United States affordable.”
Paulson could’ve even stood outside the event while refusing to actually enter – because if you’re going to make a statement about how absolutely insane it is that billionaires exist while other people, including those in full-time work, spend their lives debating whether to pay for petrol or eat, and dreaming of owning their own home, make that statement with your whole chest. Do not leave any space for misinterpretation.
Maybe this is expecting too much of Sarah Paulson. She’s very funny! I like her movies! I want her to be one of the ‘good guy’ celebrities! But perhaps the studies suggesting the more access a person has to money and power the less compassionate they become are more reliable. Of course, that’s not to say every famous or wealthy person is totally out-of-touch (Bezos’ ex-wife, McKenzie Scott, for example, has given away $26 billion following their divorce), but data does suggest higher wealth correlates with being greedier, more entitled and disconnected from others. When I recently interviewed the estranged daughter, Vivian Wilson, of the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, she certainly seemed to think so.
So yes, while it is fun to pore over the artistry, creativity and the fashion served up by the Met Gala (hell, I’ve been doing it all day), pseudoactivism remains neither a chic nor helpful red carpet accessory – no matter how Paulson or anyone else may try to dress it up.
Cosmopolitan UK has reached out to Sarah Paulson's team for comment
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Jennifer Savin is Cosmopolitan UK's multiple award-winning Features Editor, who was crowned Digital Journalist of the Year for her work tackling the issues most important to young women. She regularly covers breaking news, cultural trends, health, the royals and more, using her esteemed connections to access the best experts along the way. She's grilled everyone from high-profile politicians to A-list celebrities, and has sensitively interviewed hundreds of people about their real life stories. In addition to this, Jennifer is widely known for her own undercover investigations and campaign work, which includes successfully petitioning the government for change around topics like abortion rights and image-based sexual abuse. Jennifer is also a published author, documentary consultant (helping to create BBC’s Deepfake Porn: Could You Be Next?) and a patron for Y.E.S. (a youth services charity). Alongside Cosmopolitan, Jennifer has written for The Times, Women’s Health, ELLE and numerous other publications, appeared on podcasts, and spoken on (and hosted) panels for the Women of the World Festival, the University of Manchester and more. In her spare time, Jennifer is a big fan of lipstick, leopard print and over-ordering at dinner. Follow Jennifer on Instagram, X or LinkedIn.
