Met Gala Tickets Hit $100,000 Each for 2026 Event

Tickets to the Met Gala on Monday night have reached six figures for the first time in the event's nearly 80-year history.

The annual gala showcases extravagant red-carpet looks by celebrity attendees and marks the opening of the spring exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. This year's theme is "fashion is art," tied to the upcoming "Costume Art" exhibit that examines the relationship between clothing and the body beneath, according to Vogue.

The exclusive gathering draws famous figures from sports, film, music and other fields. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, serve as honorary chairs, with official co-chairs Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams and Anna Wintour. Organizers expect around 400 guests.

Met Gala tickets are not sold to the public; attendees receive invitations. For 2026, single tickets cost $100,000, a jump from $75,000 last year. A table for 10 starts at $350,000.

Some celebrities attend for free after fashion houses buy tables and cover costs for select guests, a former attendee told CBS News.

Proceeds fund the Costume Institute. The 2025 gala raised $31 million, per Vogue.

The Met did not comment on contributions from Bezos and Sánchez. Bezos, who owns Blue Origin and the Washington Post, has a net worth of $286 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Bezos's involvement drew criticism from activist group Everyone Hates Elon, which posted an Instagram video of members hacking subway displays to show anti-billionaire messages.

New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist focused on affordability, and his wife Rama Duwaji will skip the 2026 gala. Former mayors Eric Adams, Bill de Blasio and Mike Bloomberg attended during their terms.

The Met Gala began in 1948 as a midnight supper club. Themed events started 25 years later with the 1973 "The World of Balenciaga" exhibit. Later galas honored designers like Karl Lagerfeld, drew on medieval art for "Heavenly Bodies" and covered the punk movement.