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"I am surprised that I was invited and I am grateful for the gesture and I want us to be more sincerely thoughtful around how we take from people we do not care about," they wrote.
Following the 2021 Met Gala, largely considered the biggest red carpet event in the fashion industry, actor and activist Indya Moore has written that they are reconsidering their involvement in the festivities. The annual event is the largest recurring fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute -- the Institute is the only department at the museum that is expected to fund itself. As such, tables are reportedly sold for over $275,000 and the guest list is carefully curated by Conde Nast Global Content Officer Anna Wintour and Vogue Magazine.
"Thank you YSL and Anthony Vaccarello and Vogue Magazine and Anna Wintour for inviting me to be your guest at the Met Gala," Moore wrote to Instagram on Tuesday. The lionshare of celebrities who attend the gala do so by invitation of a brand who pays for their seat. But Moore had more to say.
"This will probably be my last Met Gala," they wrote. "I am going to think long and hard about why I came and if it is truly in alignment with what I want to accomplish in this life, the stories I want to tell, and the messages I want to share. I've faced my own inconvenient truths that led me to reevaluate what I do, why I do it and how."
In the carousel of media that accompanied the post, Moore included photos of their look from YSL for the night as well as video of a protest that was happening outside of the gala entrance. An organizer spoke into a handheld mic, in the middle of the street.
"Black and brown people are on the brink of houselessness," they said, likely referring to how many have been impacted by the ongoing global pandemic with an eviction moratorium that is likely to end soon. "We can not go back to normal!"
"$35,000 for a ticket to show your fucking wealth while our people are still dying," they yelled. Later, they went on to demand free housing, the freeing of political prisoners, and "justice for our people."
Drag Race alum Milk, and others, have also posted about the protests where activists were reportedly beaten and arrested.What Moore saw, has caused the actor to reassess.
"Being at the Met this year was cognitive dissonance," they wrote. "I entered and left feeling confused. But before that I felt clear. Grounded. People were protesting and arrested in the name of what so many of us who attended, care deeply about. They were arrested most likely because they were perceived as a threat to those of us who were there."
"We organize millions for a museum, on stolen land that Black and brown people suffer on unless white supremacy thinks they are exceptional -- but not for the people?" they wrote later. "Can't we be substantially generous in ways that alleviate suffering and poverty?"
In 2019, the Met Gala raised a reported $13 million for the Costume Institute. This money furthers the work of the Institute, which is the fashion department of the Met.
Moore's Pose co-star Angelica Ross, reposted their message in solidarity.
