The arrest of Amazon labor organizer Chris Smalls outside the 2026 Met Gala has added another layer of controversy to an event already under scrutiny for wealth, labor, and corporate power. Smalls, the co-founder and former president of the Amazon Labor Union, was taken into custody on Monday, May 4, after police said he jumped over a barricade near the entrance to the Metropolitan Museum of Art during the annual fashion event.

The NYPD told WWD that Smalls was arrested around 8:15 p.m. and charged with resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, trespass, disorderly conduct, and failure to obey traffic devices.…