Olivia Rodrigo has skipped the Met Gala and attended an afterparty after liking an anti-Jeff Bezos Instagram post.
The popstar was one of the many celebrities who did not attend the gala this year due to the involvement of Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez.
Meryl Streep is rumoured to have turned down a co-hosting role at the Met Gala because of Bezos and Sánchez’s involvement. Zendaya and Zohran Mamdani – who broke a decades-long tradition of New York mayors attending – also failed to attend.
Rodrigo, who last attended the event back in 2023, was not spotted this year, and seemingly made her stance on the proceedings clear when she was seen showing up to Saint Laurent’s Met Gala afterparty.
Many also took note that Rodrigo had liked an Instagram post featuring a 72-year-old Amazon warehouse worker called Mary Hill. In the video (which you can watch below), she says: “When we struggle from paycheck to paycheck, from week to week, it really angers me because if it weren’t for every associate in every Amazon facility, he wouldn’t have all those zeros behind his name.
“Shame on you, Jeff Bezos. The people that need to be celebrated at the Met Gala are the workers. People like me. We deserve that celebration. We deserve so much more than we’re getting.”
Rodrigo has a long history of making political statements; and most recently, hit out at the White House and the Department of Homeland Security last November for using her music in an ICE ad. “Don’t ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda,” Rodrigo commented after seeing the post.
A spokesperson for the Department then responded to the popstar, saying that “Ms. Rodrigo thank them for their service, not belittle their sacrifice.”
She also attended anti-ICE protests last June, sharing a statement on social media which read: “I’ve lived in LA my whole life, and I’m deeply upset about these violent deportations of my neighbors under the current administration.
“LA simply wouldn’t exist without immigrants,” she continued. “Treating hardworking community members with such little respect, empathy, and due process is awful. I stand with the beautiful, diverse community of Los Angeles and with immigrants all across America. I stand for our right to freedom of speech and freedom to protest.”
In addition, she launched the reproductive rights initiative Fund 4 Good in 2024, and donated $2million in ticket sales to global women’s charities. She also recently contributed a song for the star-studded ‘Help(2)’ charity album, which raised money for War Child.
Elsewhere, Rodrigo is set to release her new album ‘You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love’ via Geffen on June 12 – pre-order/pre-save here.
