{"id":48106,"date":"2026-05-07T12:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T19:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=48106"},"modified":"2026-05-07T12:34:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T19:34:11","slug":"a-four-word-response-for-those-upset-with-jeff-bezos-for-any-number-of-reasons-tax-the-damn-rich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/05\/07\/a-four-word-response-for-those-upset-with-jeff-bezos-for-any-number-of-reasons-tax-the-damn-rich\/","title":{"rendered":"A Four-Word Response for Those Upset With Jeff Bezos for Any Number of Reasons: \u2018Tax the Damn Rich\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Protesters gather blocks away from where the Met Gala is being held in Manhattan on May 4, 2026 in New York City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo by Spencer Platt\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Bernie Sanders noted that the billionaire spent $10 million on the Met Gala, $120 million on a penthouse, and $500 million on a yacht while \u201cplanning to throw 600,000 Amazon workers out on the streets and replace them with robots.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Brad Reed<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 05, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos<\/a> in recent weeks has come under fire for a wide variety of reasons, including his involvement<\/a> with the 2026 Met Gala and his plans to build a robot<\/a> workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Monday report<\/a> from The Hollywood Reporter noted that Bezos, despite being a lead sponsor of this year\u2019s Met Gala, did not make an appearance at the event\u2019s red carpet as he had in past years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Boycott<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Worst Conceivable Representative\u2019: Inequality Opponents Condemn Bezos Sponsorship of Met Gala<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Billionaire<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Billionaire Compares \u2018Tax the Rich\u2019 Calls to Hate Speech as Study Finds Barely Half of Americans Earn Living Wage<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Bezos\u2019 sponsorship of the Gala has been hit with heavy criticism in recent weeks, as many activists slammed the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art for taking the tech mogul\u2019s money despite his company\u2019s labor practices and reported involvement in helping US Immigration<\/a> and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to The Hollywood Reporter, other critics \u201caccused the billionaire of buying influence with the major event and speculation swirled that some stars may boycott the event due to his involvement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to not appearing at the Met Gala red carpet, Bezos is reportedly trying to lower his profile by selling his $500 million luxury yacht.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The New York Post reported<\/a> on Monday that Bezos has decided that the 417-foot vessel has become \u201ctoo recognizable,\u201d and is also a headache to maintain, costing an estimated $30 million per year to operate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Bernie Sanders<\/a> (I-Vt.) on Tuesday argued that Bezos\u2019 lavish spending and his plan to build an army of robots to replace human workers<\/a> was symbolic of American capitalism<\/a> in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe reality of American life today,\u201d Sanders wrote<\/a> in a social media<\/a> post. \u201cJeff Bezos, worth $290 billion, spent: $10 million on the Met Gala, $120 million on a penthouse, $500 million on a yacht. Meanwhile, he\u2019s planning to throw 600,000 Amazon workers out on the streets and replace them with robots. Unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warren Gunnels, Sanders\u2019 staff director, similarly made the case that Bezos\u2019 spending spree was yet another argument for raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJeff Bezos, who paid $10 million for the Met Gala,\u201d Gunnels wrote, \u201cgot $62 billion richer since [President Donald] Trump was elected and spent $500 million on a yacht to sail to his $55 million wedding in Venice to give his wife a $5 million ring because his tax rate is less than 1%. Four words: Tax the damn rich.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Labor unions<\/a>, which have long clashed with Bezos over Amazon\u2019s aggressive union-busting<\/a> tactics, held their own rival \u201cBall Without Billionaires\u201d on Monday evening to protest<\/a> the Bezos-funded Met Gala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As reported by Democracy<\/a> Now!, the gala featured \u201cAmazon, Whole Foods, Washington Post<\/a>, Starbucks, and Uber workers\u201d who \u201cwalked the runway in looks by immigrant designers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

April Verrett, president of the Service Employees International Union, said the Ball Without Billionaires was \u201cnot just about fashion\u201d but \u201cabout power\u201d and \u201ctelling the truth that people who sew and care and drive and cook and clean and secure and those that create are the ones who make everything possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workers at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, who earlier this year voted to unionize, registered their own disapproval of this year\u2019s Met Gala,\u00a0posting<\/a>\u00a0a message on Instagram informing followers that \u201c91% of hourly Met staff in our unit earn less than a living wage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brad Reed<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brad Reed is a staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Protesters gather blocks away from where the Met Gala is being held in Manhattan on May 4, 2026 in New York City. \u00a0(Photo by Spencer Platt\/Getty Images) Sen. Bernie Sanders noted that the billionaire spent $10 million on the Met Gala, $120 million on a penthouse, and $500 million on… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48106"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48106"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48107,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48106\/revisions\/48107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}