"Why is THIS who we celebrate when there are so many AMAZING designers out there who aren't bigoted white men?"
Jameela Jamil is calling out the Met Gala after it was announced the theme of next year’s gala will celebrate the legacy of the late designer Karl Lagerfeld.
Over the weekend, the actress took to Instagram to slam the 2023 Met Gala theme, “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty,” citing several of the controversies Lagerfeld faced throughout his career, while also describing the former Chanel creative director as “hateful” and “bigoted.”
Lagerfeld — who died in 2019 at 85 — was met with criticism over several of his controversial comments and beliefs, including those regarding the #MeToo movement, sexual assault, migrants and LGBTQ rights. He also was accused of Islamaphobia, and most notably, fatphobia.
2023 Met Gala Theme Will Honor Late Designer Karl Lagerfeld
In her post, Jamil shared a slideshow of “receipts” that consisted of screenshots from news stories and articles discussing a variety of Lagerfield’s comments that were deemed problematic.
For the first slide, however, “The Good Place” actress simply wrote the word “Nope” over a photo of Lagerfield.
“Karl Lagerfeld is the theme for the entire Met Gala next year,” Jamil began in her lengthy caption. “This man… was indeed, supremely talented, but used his platform is such a distinctly hateful way, mostly towards women, so repeatedly and up until the last years of his life, showing no remorse, offering no atonement, no apology, no help to groups he attacked… there was no explanation for his cruel outbursts.”
She continued, “Those groups were women who were sexually assaulted, the entire me too movement, gay couples who wanted to adopt, all fat people, specifically fat women, and some of his greatest harm was against Muslim refugees, and the disgusting way he spoke about people fleeing their homes for fear of their lives.
“Why is THIS who we celebrate when there are so many AMAZING designers out there who aren’t bigoted white men? What happened to everyone’s principles and ‘advocacy,'” she added. “You don’t get to stand for justice in these areas, and then attend the celebration of someone who reveled in his own public disdain for marginalized people.”
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The “She-Hulk” star went on to end her post, saying, “Sorry, but no. This isn’t the 90s. We didn’t fight all this shit just to throw it all away because some white guy made some pretty clothes for people’s skinny faves… come on now.”
Jamil has openly criticized Lagerfeld in the past.
According to PEOPLE, the activist took to Twitter in the wake of the German designer’s death in 2019. Alongside an article from Wear Your Voice magazine titled “Stop Mourning Oppressors: Condolences For Karl Lagerfeld,” she wrote, “I’m glad somebody said it. Even if it is a little soon. A ruthless, fat-phobic misogynist shouldn’t be posted all over the internet as a saint gone-too-soon.”
The 2023 Met Gala theme was revealed on Friday. The theme “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty” will coincide with a new major exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute which will also showcase the fashion mogul’s most iconic and revolutionary designs.
According to the official press release, the exhibition will be open to the public from May 5 through July 16, 2023 and spotlight “the designer’s stylistic vocabulary as it was expressed in through lines — aesthetic themes that appear time and again — in his fashions from the 1950s to his final collection in 2019.”
The collection will feature 150 pieces on display as well as Lagerfeld’s original sketches.
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