The Met Gala was a cash grab more than a fundraiser.

The Met Gala took over most media last week, but shocked nobody pointed out how almost every celebrity that attended actually made money going.

Ticket prices are $35,000.
Table prices vary, but call it $250,000.

Key to do that is the Met Gala is technically a fundraiser and any money spent on a ticket is technically a donation.

Aka, a tax write off.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a 501c3 and any donations made there can be 100% written off on any income tax form. Obvious caps on charitable donations being deductible exist, but something like $30,000 to Kylie Jenner is something an accountant can do in a minute.

On top of that, the attendance of the Met Gala is undeniably a form of marketing/networking.

Again, a tax write off.

The flight
The hotel
The limo
The make up artist

All of that can be argued as a business expense and be written off. Likely never actually touching personal wealth either and being marked under the company the celebrity owns or works with.

Tax write offs are discussed a bit, but never that much. Pre Reagan, tax rates were about 70%, but revenue was almost exactly the same compared to when he took them to the mid 30s, like today. Reason was deductions were so insane the cruise industry in the US basically started with them offering minor seminars on them as excuses to deduct the entire thing.

This is a case of a deduction where anything to create an image and get press can be 100% marked as a business expense.

So the cost to get the ticket?
Zero

The cost to get to NYC and put on a show?
Zero in most cases.

And final one, the attendees are normally paid a lot of money to wear the clothing itself.

Most of those contracts are private, but someone like Kylie Jenner or Billie Eilish who attended, can 100% get a check for $50-100,000 to wear a dress and get attention. It happens every Oscar night, every Golden Globes and yes, every Met Gala.

Kendall Jenner’s dress was seen by tens of millions of eyes online and mentioned in every article and post it was designed by Givenchy.

That type of press is worth money and many people who attended, even on the smaller level can make some money. Also, if they aren’t paid, the attention in press has some sort of market value which can help them get future work.

Not going to say the Met Gala is wrong or it’s bad policy to have business/charitable deductions. Just amusing how something like this marked as a fundraiser can become a pretty big cash grab.