With some celebrities skipping this year’s Jeff Bezos-backed Met Gala, a robot posed for photographers instead.

The AgiBot robot, created by a Chinese tech company, was invited as a guest of American fashion designer Alexander Wang.

The designer’s Instagram account shared a video of the robot leaving The Mark Hotel, where Met Gala attendees prepare for the event.

The robot’s debut didn’t go without flaws, as the humanoid had a hard time getting through the hotel’s elevator doors.

The video shows the elevator door opening and the robot trying to step into the corridor, where photographers were already waiting.

However, the humanoid got stuck for a moment until a couple of bodyguards helped it step out of the elevator.

Soon after, the robot was already posing for the cameras and later appeared on the red carpet outside the hotel.

While the AgiBot robot was introduced as Wang’s guest, it seems to be a collaboration between the designer and the energy drink brand Real:ly, with the brand's logo on the robot’s chest and a can of sparkling tea in its hand.

This isn’t the first time Wang has invited a robot. In 2018, Sophia, a robot made by Hanson Robotics, attended the designer’s 2019 Fall show in New York, sitting and posing next to other celebrities.

It appears that no major event can go ahead recently without a robot's appearance, and the Met Gala is no exception.

Recently, the first lady of the United States, Melania Trump, was seen walking alongside a robot during the education and technology summit at the White House.

Boycotting the Met Gala 2026

The Met Gala is a fundraiser held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York that invites high-profile celebrities and designers.

What was once a $50 midnight dinner has become one of the most anticipated red carpet events.

While the initial idea behind the event to raise money for the Costume Institute remained the same, this year’s event sparked a heated debate online.

The reason for this was that this year’s main sponsors and honorary co-chairs of the Met Gala were Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, and his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos.

Before the event, an activist group called Everyone Hates Elon ran a citywide campaign to encourage a boycott.

The evening before the Gala, the group showed interviews with Amazon workers on buildings such as Bezos’ penthouse, the Empire State Building, and the Chrysler Building.

In these interviews, people talked about how they struggle to make ends meet while making Bezos a billionaire.

Some celebrities also decided to skip this year’s Met Gala after finding out that the Amazon founder was backing the event.

Among these names are Meryl Streep, Bella Hadid, Zendaya, and Timothée Chalamet.

New York’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, also refused to attend the event because he’s focusing on “affordability,” reports the NY Times.

Diet Prada, an Instagram account that provides commentary on recent fashion trends and news, sparked an online discussion after asking its followers what their take is on the gala.

While many support the anti-rich movement, some users note that we shouldn’t forget the Met Gala is a fundraiser and that we should let them spend money on the arts.

However, “this year, the ‘honorary’ cochairs are simultaneously and very openly supporting our fascist government while they support genocide at home and abroad,” wrote one user, adding that it could’ve been any other wealthy donor who could’ve been chosen instead of Bezos.

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