The Met Gala's usual parade of wealth and spectacle was briefly interrupted Monday night when former Amazon Labor Union president Christian Smalls was tackled and arrested by police outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Smalls, one of Amazon's most visible labor critics, said he was trying to draw attention to Jeff Bezos, whose status as a lead sponsor and honorary chair placed Amazon squarely in the background of the evening's celebration. What began as a red-carpet disruption quickly opened up a broader conversation about labor, celebrity, and whose voices are heard when extreme wealth is being celebrated in public.
According to the New York Times, Smalls jumped out of a vehicle near the Met and attempted to push through a police barricade while holding a sign critical of Amazon. Officers quickly swarmed him and arrested him as celebrities continued arriving for fashion's biggest night.
The Times reported that the 37-year-old Smalls later faced two misdemeanor counts — one for trespassing and another for obstructing governmental administration — tied to his crossing of the barricade. He then spent about a day in custody and accepted an offer from Manhattan prosecutors that could lead to dismissal if he avoids another arrest for six months. His next court date is reportedly set for early November.
The protest also revealed ongoing tension between Smalls and the labor organization he once led. The Amazon Labor Union, now affiliated with the Teamsters, told the Times that the Met Gala action had not been planned with the worker leaders and allies involved in a larger anti-Amazon campaign.
In its statement, detailed by the Times, the union went further, saying it does not condone "lone-wolf direct actions" that place one individual at the center of what it described as a collective struggle. Smalls, who left the union in 2024 amid internal conflict, said he acted on his own because he did not want to create complications for the organization.
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The incident matters beyond a single high-profile arrest.
When criticism of the company is drowned out by luxury branding and celebrity culture, it underscores how difficult it can be for worker concerns to break through — even when those concerns involve a company accused of mistreating employees and found during the Staten Island union drive to have broken labor law.
Smalls, however, said the action accomplished what he intended.
He told the Times he wanted to "shine a bright light on Jeff Bezos" and Amazon's unethical business practices. "It shouldn't be that way when you have all of this money and wealth," Smalls said of Bezos, adding, "He should pay his workers a fair share."
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