Everyone Hates Elon is the anti-billionaire group behind the posters protesting the Met Gala -Credit:Reach Publishing Services Limited
(Reach Publishing Services Limited)
The group behind the viral anti-Met Gala protests popping up around New York City have teased that they have more planned before the star-studded event next week.
Calls to boycott one of the biggest nights in fashion started when it was announced that Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, were named honorable co-chairs of the event this year after they donated a hefty sum. Bezos, 62, has been slammed for a multitude of reasons, including the treatment of Amazon warehouse workers and providing cloud databases that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) uses.
A founder of the Instagram account “EveryoneHatesElon” spoke exclusively to The Mirror US about why the group decided to target the Met Gala. The UK-based activist group is behind recent protest posters that have popped up around New York City ahead of the event and most recently placed miniature bottles of “urine” around the Metropolitan Museum of Art to protest Amazon worker conditions.
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“It’s obviously a really iconic event that everyone talks about, for what, for the next kind of month, or the, you know, the last few weeks and then the next few weeks,” The woman, who will be referred to as Jane for anonymity, said.
Jane added, “We expected a big response. I guess I’ve been, still been impressed, in terms of, you know, people are talking about prices going up and going down on tickets. And, you know, the talk of a boycott is spreading. So definitely been, you know, it’s been really great to see, but I’m not totally surprised, no, because I think people are really angry. And obviously, this is a really iconic event that lots of people are interested in.”
The group put up posters around New York City -Credit:Everyone Hates Elon / SWNS
But the group isn’t done yet. Jane was coy about the upcoming protests the group are planning for May 4. “Obviously, we tend to break quite a few rules, and so we can’t really say always what that is.”
She added, “And so, you know, we try and be mischievous, cheeky, you know, angry, but also a bit funny. And so we kind of play with those things, but definitely lots more to come.”
Jeff Bezos and his wife Lauren Sánchez Bezos are honorary Met Gala co-chairs -Credit:Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Jane also didn’t mince words when it came to why the group chose to target the Amazon founder. “Jeff Bezos gave, what, $75 million or something for Melania Trump’s film?” she said, noting the price Amazon paid for the rights to the first lady’s documentary, Melania.
“I think it’s very clear why he’s doing things like that is to curry favor with [Donald] Trump. And I think that makes what Trump does possible,” she continued. “So if you add that to the fact that, you know, Bezos is also avoiding a huge amount of tax and treating his workers like garbage, some would say, you know, it makes for quite a compelling case of why to target Jeff Bezos.”
The group put small bottles of ‘urine’ around the Met -Credit:Everyone Hates Elon
On April 30, the group placed minuscule bottles featuring a picture of a laughing Bezos around the Metropolitan Museum of Art, each reading, “Boycott the Bezos Met Gala.” Inside the bottles was a yellow liquid designed to look like urine, but it was actually just food coloring and water.
The stunt was referencing claims that Amazon delivery workers have had to pee in bottles during their delivery runs as they allegedly aren’t allowed to stray from their delivery routes or stop for more than five minutes.
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