Cruel MAGA Met Gala Flops, Embarrassing Billionaires Fail To Launder Their Reputations

5 May 2026 · 17 min · 8 chapters

Ask about this episode

Ask anything about it. ChatGPT or Claude reads this page and answers with the times it was said.

Connect VO and ask about every podcast you hear, including the moments you saved. Add to ChatGPT · Add to Claude

In short

The hosts denounce the Met Gala as a “laundering” event for fascist-leaning billionaires, focusing on Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s attendance and alleged hypocrisy around LGBTQ+ and worker rights. They also cite Amazon’s links to ICE, surveillance tech funding (Project Nimbus), and alleged labor conditions (workers forced to pee in bottles), plus protests and damage-control by Met CEO Max Holline.

Guest backgrounds

No named guests appear; the episode includes clips and commentary featuring Chris Smalls (Amazon union organizer), Taraji P. Henson, and Lisa Ann Walter.

Key claims

Bezos funds fascism/ICE/genocide while trying to buy elite image repair; Bezos “cowardly” avoided the red carpet; Holline says donors support the Met’s integrity; celebrities should boycott.

Notable examples

Chris Smalls’ video accusing Bezos of $7.2B Project Nimbus and ICE ties; “piss bottle” protest reports; Holline’s CNN quote; Taraji P. Henson calling out duplicitous attendance.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

Tap a time to open that second in VO

Highlighting Chris Smalls

0:45 to 2:59

A focus on Chris Smalls and the hypocrisy of billionaires at the Met Gala.

“While at the same time, we want to be cool with this industry that lifts up diversity, that lifts up gay people, that lifts up women, that lifts up creators.”

Jeff Bezos and Cowardice

2:59 to 4:23

Discussing Jeff Bezos's cowardly actions during the Met Gala and his political affiliations.

“I was very impressed by that video, Chris Smalls.”

Lauren Sanchez's Image Laundering

4:23 to 6:29

Analyzing Lauren Sanchez's efforts to improve her image amid criticism.

“He snuck into the Met Gala, pop this up.”

The Role of Journalism

6:29 to 8:15

Exploring the responsibilities of journalists and the impact of billionaire influence.

“She shuts the fuck up and puts her money where her mouth is.”

Protests and Worker Treatment

8:15 to 10:34

Highlighting protests against Bezos and the treatment of Amazon workers.

“You have the Pentagon kicking out real journalists.”

Ethics of Philanthropy

10:34 to 13:04

Discussing the ethics behind billionaire philanthropy and social responsibility.

“there's so many protesters that went out days before putting these bottles of piss around, because that's the way Jeff Bezos treats his employees.”

The Duplicitous Nature of Celebrities

13:04 to 14:04

Critiquing celebrities who support human rights while associating with problematic figures.

“Because he doesn't give a shit about the Met.”

Critique of the Met Gala and Celebrity Hypocrisy

14:04 to 16:44

Explore the disconnect between celebrity culture and social issues as discussed in the context of the Met Gala.

“And so many Americans want to have their foot in both sides.”
Hear the part that matters, and keep it.Open this episode in VO. Double tap your headphones to save a moment as you listen.
Get VO free

Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:04All right, there are so many people that are just heartbreakers that attended the Met Gala. And this is a time in American history where you're either on the side of the fascists that are anti-gay, firing people from the military because they're black or because they're female. You're either on the side of these billionaires that fund ICE, that fund all of the overseas operations in Gaza. It's just disgusting, disgusting stuff. So Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Bezos, are trying to launder their image. They're trying to have it both ways. We're going to play patty cake with fascists. We're going to fund fascists because we are fascists.

0:45While at the same time, we want to be cool with this industry that lifts up diversity, that lifts up gay people, that lifts up women, that lifts up creators. And we're not going to let them have it both ways. And instead of highlighting these morally duplicitous attendees, I want to highlight a man named Chris Smalls. Play the clip. What's going on, Jeff? Remember me, the fired Amazon worker that you signed off on the Samir campaign calling me not smart or articulate, but you also said to make me the face of the whole unionizing efforts against Amazon. Amazon is heavily invested in this genocide.

1:25They invest$7.2 billion into Project Nimbus, a project that is being used to fund and power the technology being used to surveil and target innocent Palestinians. Also, we all know that Amazon has ties to ICE. They are powering ICE devices. Now you're going to have the Met Gala where you're going to be surrounded by all these elites and billionaires and A-listers. when you have poverty right outside on the streets. We got to remind ourselves that it's more of us than it is of them. And when we fight back every time we win, billionaires shouldn't exist. Billionaires, they got to go.

2:07What a disgrace Jeff Bezos is. What an absolute disgrace to launch and approve a campaign towards a man who is black and to endorse calling him not smart or not articulate. So you want to know why Jeff Bezos and Lauren Bezos have no problem floating around in the White House with Donald Trump and all the white nationalists? Just look at this. So we stand in solidarity with Chris Smalls, that message of wanting worker power, workers' rights to unionize. Meanwhile, it is chump change, chump change for Jeff Bezos to write a check for$10 million to try to launder his trashy ass wife's existence into the cool kid club and shame on everybody that is allowing for that to happen.

2:59Angie. I was very impressed by that video, Chris Smalls. I thought it was very well done. And I just think that when you think about a man that's making billions of dollars, that is not paying taxes, that his big bitch was that his workers wanted to unionize. They wanted healthcare. They wanted a livable wage. That's what they wanted. He's the largest retailer with no retail store. So workers delivering his product is the only way he makes money. And yet he does not want them to have any modicum of security. It is so gross. And the Republican Party has launched this union busting for decades, long before Trump.

3:49They would rather power the elites, the 0.01%, than they would their customer base. And this is a real moral shortcoming of the United States capitalistic system. We end up valuing the wealthiest and you have all of these capitalists that live out in rural America with no capital voting against their interest time and time again. And Jeff Bezos, here's the deal. If you're going to be a fascist, put your money where your mouth is, stand up, own it, bask in it, bathe in it. He snuck into the Met Gala, pop this up. Met Gala sponsor Jeff Bezos decided to skip the red carpet and let his wife deal with all of that.

4:35The Amazon founder snuck in through a different entrance and was only photographed once inside. I mean, what a coward. Just what a fucking coward. Here's the thing. I would say he let her fade the heat because he sucks. I mean, he does suck. but my guess, I mean, she, this was like her Superbowl. She loved it so much. But my thought is, I think to your point, you have fuck you money. Everybody hates you. You know it. Stand up there and take it. You're a big alpha male. Stand up there and take the heat and be like, fuck you. You're mad I have all the money. Well, fuck you. No, we can't. He has to like But crawl in because he is just such a fucking coward.

5:22And it's stunning to me. And this is really a larger issue that's happening right now. You have a choice. Everybody has a choice as to who they can platform. And you have Jeff Bezos here and his wife, and she wants to have it both ways. She's like, okay, yeah, go make your billions. We're going to journal every morning our gratitude list for each other. I'm going to buy my way into the New York Times profile. I'm going to buy my way sitting next to Anna Wintour. Because I also know, she knows that the LGBTQ plus community, women, diversity is the coolest part of American culture. Yet her husband is financing policies and nefarious forces like the Heritage Foundation.

6:09Those are his colluders. Those are the people he's colluding with to get even more billions of dollars. And his ex-wife, Mackenzie Scott, every chance she can get is throwing money at marginalized groups to lift them up. She doesn't want a New York Times profile. She's not at the Met Gala. She shuts the fuck up and puts her money where her mouth is. And these are the voices that need to be lifted up. The celebrities that said, no, I'm not going. The images from that Met Gala will live on forever. And I don't want my face to be in those images. And there are so many that we covered yesterday. And then here is Lauren Sanchez desperately trying to launder her image on the red carpet solo because her husband is too big of a coward to stand there and bask in what a fascist he is.

7:05But Lauren Sanchez, she has no problem doing it. Here she is, and she is getting dragged for filth on the internet. Everybody is saying how on earth could she make a designer gown look like Timu or Sheen? It is absolutely, it shows you, you can have all the money in the world and you still look like a two-bit fascist. Lauren Sanchez has an opportunity to stand up for workers, to stand up for the everyday person. And instead, she has to have her husband spend$10 million so that she can be the honorary co-host in a time period where this egregious wealth juxtaposed with the falling off of the middle class and the increasing levels of poverty in this country.

8:02This is who she chooses to define herself as, as this two-bit fascist. Well, and I would just add, Lauren Sanchez, by education and career before Jeff Bezos, is a journalist. The First Amendment is under attack. You have the Pentagon kicking out real journalists. The press pool at the White House is so watered down. She has a platform. She could be fighting for the First Amendment and for the fourth estate of journalism. But instead, she gets all hookered up in her Team U outfit. Well, and let's just remember her husband with the Washington Post. Lauren Sanchez doesn't give a shit about journalism.

8:41Neither do any of the people in the whole right wing media ecosystem. Being a journalist, much like being a woman who carries water for the patriarchy. If you are sane washing and laundering fascism, you're not really a journalist. You might have that moniker attached to you. But Jeff Bezos spiked the endorsement of Kamala Harris. Jeff Bezos is firing real journalists at The Washington Post because he doesn't want the truth out there. Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, they have chosen in this moment to be the billionaires that want to be the face of fascism. And I say, we hear you, we see you, and we will make sure we platform you for the fascist that you are.

9:28A year ago, I would have said you're fascist collaborators. Today, you are fascist. And shame on everybody at the Met Gala that just goes along with that. This is deeper than just, oh, Trump wasn't there, so we were able to go. Look at who is funding and empowering Trump. If all of the Fortune 500 CEOs said, no, we're not doing this, they are firing people based on color. They are firing people based on gender. They are passing laws left and right, diminishing the LGBTQ plus community. They are demeaning the working class, and we're not going to have any part of that. We do not support this. Trump would not be governing in the fashion that he is right now.

10:12He is 10 foot tall and bulletproof, both from an assist from the Supreme Court and all of the industry titans are like, let it rip, baby, let's go. And moving along here, we have pee bottles that were put all over the Met Gala because Amazon workers work so much. They piss in water bottles. Pop this up. So here we go. People went out. there's so many protesters that went out days before putting these bottles of piss around, because that's the way Jeff Bezos treats his employees. And it says boycott the Bezos Met Gala staff at the Met discovered hundreds of bottles filled with what appeared to be urine hidden inside the venue.

10:58Amazon warehouse workers have repeatedly reported being unable to take a bathroom break due to the pressure they face on the job forced to pee in water bottles. And so, But just remember,$10 million because he wants to be a cool kid. And then the Met CEO, Max Holline, tried to do damage control ahead of the event after being snubbed by A-listers like Zendaya and Meryl Streep. Let's pop this up. The Daily Beast is reporting Holline said that Bezos and his new wife are providing funds for this preservation and for the longevity of the institution. This is not a show on Amazon. This is not a show on Lauren Sanchez's dresses.

11:43One needs to be really clear that what our donors are supporting is the program of the Met and the ideas of our curators and the integrity of the institution, he told CNN. And they don't want to have it any other way. That's exactly what the donors want. And those are the donors that museums like ours need to have. here's the thing you don't have to do this right you genuinely don't you genuinely don't have to bend the knee you could tell jeff bezos i'm sorry you're funding fascism you're funding ice you're funding a genocide you treat your workers like you bend the knee to this fascist man so we're going to go raise the funds with mckenzie scott dial up ms mckenzie scott dial up zoran mom donnie and say, we want to do something completely different this year.

12:35We want to highlight workers. We want to have brave people with money that aren't cowards invest in this because we want to highlight where the American people are right now. Trump has a low 30 % approval rating. Good luck with all of this. You know what I was thinking? If Jeff Bezos is so worried about about supporting the Met, why did he not just write a$10 million check? Why did he have to have the honorary title? Because he doesn't give a shit about the Met. He gives a shit about putting Lauren Sanchez and himself front and center with the A-listers, in my opinion. I don't even think he wants to be front and center.

13:15This is all Lauren. Lauren wants to be a cool kid that sits next sits next to Anna Wintour. And I just wish that there were people with conviction, conviction in this country that said, no, I'm sorry. You're really disgusting. We'd rather have his first wife here than your trashy ass, Lauren. And then here's Taraji P. Henson's post, pop this up. Taraji P. Henson calls out celebrities for attending the Met Gala when it's backed by Amazon's Jeff Bezos. I'm so confused by some people that are going, I'm just like, what the fuck are we doing? And that's exactly it. Like, what are we doing here? Quit being duplicitous.

13:59Either you're for human rights or you're not. And so many Americans want to have their foot in both sides. Oh no, I'm totally pro LGBTQ plus and I'm DEI and I love diversity and Black Lives matter. And then you're trotting out to the Met Gala and you can't have it both ways. And that's what's so disgusting right now about American culture, the people that want to have it both ways. And other celebrities, including Lisa Ann Walter, joined protests against Bezos. Let's play the clip. Who did an event that's supposed to celebrate creativity, artistry, and fabulousness in all genders end up revolving around this Temu Lex Luthor, who profits off of pushing working people to their very brink.

14:52And of course, you know, Lex Luthor is the billionaire comic villain who runs massive tech and industrial conglomerate. And I just have to say good on the celebrities that spoke out and good on all over New York. There are protests everywhere about the Met Gala. I mean, projections up on buildings, signs everywhere, all around the city. I was walking my dogs and I saw the projection up, boycott Jeff Bezos Met Gala. And so again, this is one of these times, listener, where you get online in the morning and you think, oh my God, people are just colluding with Trump. The resistance is far bigger.

15:31And every single attendee of that Met Gala, they will always be remembered for this moment. This moment when American citizens are getting shot. This moment when everybody is laundering the image of our dementia-ridden winking at Bernie's president, who is just so morally depraved and psychotic and idiotic. And all of these billionaires that support him and then they want to go rush to have their picture taken with Lauren Sanchez. And I will just leave you with this. I want to lift up women, not the Ivanka Trumps, not the Lauren Sanchez's, not the first lady. I don't want to lift up women like that.

16:18I want to lift up women that get in the trenches and fight for every single American, poor, trans, gay, white, black, documented, undocumented. It's all the same. We're all human beings. And that last night, that was a disgrace. It disgusts me to my utter core. Have some fucking conviction for God's sakes. Do you know who your customer base is? All right. That's all we have. Like and subscribe. And we'll be back later with more news.

16:57What do you get when you mix world-class research, top-tier talent, and an unbeatable supply chain infrastructure? No, this isn't the setup for a dad joke. It's Middlesex County, New Jersey. Visit biz.discovermiddlesex.com to learn more.

From the publisher

The Bezos run MAGA Met Gala was an absolute joke.


Pre-order Jennifer’s new book Not Today, Fascists today: https://linktr.ee/ivehaditpodcast

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

More from IHIP News

All 1,257 episodes
Cruel MAGA Met Gala Flops, Embarrassing Billionaires Fail To Launder Their ReputationsIHIP News · 17 min
Listen in VO