Lauren Sánchez Reportedly ‘Chased’ for Her ‘Money’ at Met Gala After Report Anna Wintour Saw Jeff Bezos as the ‘Bankroll’
The 2026 Met Gala counted Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, among its lead sponsors, with the couple reportedly paying $10 million to support the annual fundraiser.
Sánchez made a solo appearance on the Met’s famous steps as Bezos opted to skip the red carpet amid negative publicity. Despite the controversy, Rob Shuter reported on his Naughty But Nice Substack that Sánchez quickly became the dominant presence once inside the event.
Insiders told Naughty But Nice that Sánchez “commanded the kind of attention that stopped conversations, redirected traffic, and pulled the room’s most powerful people straight to her table.” She even became a focal point for several high-profile celebrities, fashion designers, social media influencers, and donors alike, many of whom sought direct interaction with her.
“Inside the room, Lauren was the gravitational center,” one guest said. “Anna [Wintour] still had the title, but Lauren had the heat. People weren’t chasing Anna’s approval—they were chasing Lauren’s money.”
Sure, former Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour still has the power to make someone “important” by putting them in the spotlight, but at events like the Met Gala, attendees are now drawn to different kinds of influence. With Sánchez in the room, that also means close proximity to Bezos, one of the richest men on the planet.
“Lauren can make something happen,” one source explained. “A film financed. A brand backed. A deal made. That’s a very different kind of power—and everyone in that room knew it.”
This comes after Wintour reportedly referred to Bezos as the Met Gala’s “bankroll,” with a source previously telling Shuter that she just “wanted his money”—but things shifted once the event started attracting unfavorable attention.
“Jeff was supposed to be the bankroll, not the headline,” the source said. “Anna wanted his money. What she did not want was Jeff Bezos becoming the villain of the night before the first flashbulb even pops.”
They noted that Wintour was “genuinely shocked by how hostile” things had become, adding that the “never imagined the Met Gala would start being seen as a symbol of excess instead of a cultural institution.”
