The Met Gala: a fashion tradition since 1948. This event sees celebrities come together to show off their designer outfits befitting the year’s theme. This year’s theme was “The Garden of Time.” One remarkable outfit from the evening was worn by TikTok influencer Haley Baylee. The dress was supposedly inspired by French Queen Marie Antoinette.
The inspiration for the dress became important after the internet blew up with drama regarding a TikTok posted by Baylee. The influencer posted a video with audio from Kirsten Dunst’s Marie Antoinette saying, “Let them eat cake,” a famous phrase believed to be said by the French Queen in response to her starving subjects asking for food.
Baylee made an apology video on May 10th. This video explains that she was not technically part of the Met Gala as she was only an interviewer stationed at the Mark Hotel. Then around 3 ½ minutes into her video she apologizes for the audio she used as she said she “never ever ever ever ever would have used it” if she had known people would view it as a malicious act. However, the original video’s caption did in fact include a “p.s.” saying that the audio was not meant to be anything other than following a trend because that was the theme of her dress. Her defense included showing other videos of celebrities using the sound, ultimately saying that since none of their videos received negative feedback, she did not realize her video would. Baylee then goes on to say, “The sound choice truly had no deeper meaning. I never would have chosen a sound on purpose to highlight wealth disparity or elitism.”
There is already plenty of tension and controversy regarding the Met Gala, as many people believe it is simply an event for the rich to flaunt their wealth and ignore the world around them. Especially with the growth of celebrity culture in the past few years, concerns regarding American values have emerged. Where does the power truly lie? Well, this video from Baylee seemed to fan the flame that had already been growing. People started to reply to the video online saying they were watching the Met Gala from “District 12,” a reference to the dystopian series, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. The Hunger Games features different districts that send their children into a game to fight to the death. While this happens, the rich dress up in eccentric outfits (much like they’re doing now), while the commoners suffer (much like they’re doing now), and the tension keeps growing (much like it is now).
This story seems to be turning from fiction to reality, and some people believe Baylee’s video to be the beginning of the end. Specifically, the end of celebrity culture in America. It has become the norm to idolize celebrities and model yourself after them. Young girls aim to look like Kim Kardashian. Celebrities have influence, hence the term “influencer,” but as time goes on, people realize more and more that maybe these people shouldn’t have such a big influence on our lives. People buy food, drinks, clothes, games, and more just because a celebrity told them to, or because the celebrity does it too.
Celebrity culture allows everyday people to live vicariously through them, providing a glimpse into the upper-class lifestyle. In doing so, it promotes unrealistic standards and creates unneeded drama. So, will we continue to idolize celebrities? Perhaps. However, society is now waking up, so only time will tell.
