NEW YORK April 30 — A poster campaign opposing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s involvement in the upcoming Met Gala cropped up across New York’s streets and subways yesterday, calling for a boycott of the star-studded event.

Bezos and his wife Lauren Sanchez Bezos are lead sponsors and honorary co-chairs of the high-profile fundraising event, to be held May 4, which draws A-listers across entertainment, sport, fashion and business.

But the billionaire couple’s stake in the gala has angered activists, who primarily oppose Bezos’s business practices.

One poster depicts a bottle filled with urine on a red carpet — a reference to some Amazon drivers having to urinate in bottles due to a lack of bathroom breaks.

Another portrays Bezos in a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) uniform, as Amazon’s cloud computing subsidiary has a contract with the divisive agency leading President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Behind the campaign is a group founded in Britain called “Everyone Hates Elon” — which, a spokesman stressed, “also targets other billionaires” beyond Elon Musk, the world’s richest person.

“I think it feels really powerful to take action,” said the spokesman, who asked for anonymity due to fears of retaliation.

“I think it’s speaking to a need that people have to stand up to some of these people that are controlling our lives.”

The group says it has received more than £14,000 (RM75,000) to fund its campaign in New York — mainly from small donations averaging 10 pounds.

The Met Gala is often criticized for its displays of immense wealth and has previously drawn protests over economic inequality, environmental concerns, and the war in Gaza. — AFP

Inequality today is worse than what the United States experienced during the Gilded Age at the end of the 19th century, says Joseph Stiglitz. “The wealthiest person in that era was Rockefeller. And his wealth really doesn’t compare to that of Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, Jeff Bezos, and some of the new billionaires,” explains the economist, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001, in a phone interview. “Their political influence under Donald Trump is also unprecedented, with Musk being the clearest example.”

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Few people dare to say “no” to Anna Wintour. Zohran Mamdani is one of them. New York’s mayor — who is a socialist and a Muslim — has turned down the invitation to attend the Met Gala, which will take place on May 4.

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There are now 3,110 billionaires but analysis shows ‘deep structural acceleration’ in wealth creation around world

The number of billionaires in the world could reach nearly 4,000 by 2031, figures suggest, as the super-rich accumulate wealth at an accelerating rate.

There are now 3,110 billionaires globally, according to analysis by the estate agent Knight Frank. This is forecast to rise by 25% over the next five years, taking the total to 3,915.

Following the complete success of the Artemis 2 lunar test flight, NASA has been quick to declare that it was just a first step toward a lunar landing far more ambitious than that of Apollo 11 in 1969: “This time we’re coming back to stay,” was the motto at mission control in Houston, as soon as the four astronauts, who broke records and changed the tough-guy image of space cowboys, splashed down safely. This Monday, Jared Isaacman, the head of the U.S. space agency, announced that preparations for the 2027 launch of the Artemis 3 mission have already begun at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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