Wealthy actress called 'tone deaf' for showing up wearing dollar bill as blindfold at Met Gala in New York City

Sarah Paulson wearing a dollar bill as a blind fold at the 2026 Met Gala.

The wealthy elite gathered in New York City Monday night for the 2026 Met Gala, an annual celebration of high fashion and in-your-face classism. One of the most stunning looks on the red carpet, among the many, was that of an actress reportedly worth $12 million wearing a dollar bill over her eyes in an apparent protest of wealth.

The blindfolded actress was the Emmy-winning Sarah Paulson who has appeared in numerous TV shows, including American Crime Story, in which she portrayed Marcia Clark, the lead prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson trial. As Cosmopolitan points out, the Meta Gala, in addition to being the top fashion event of the year, is also a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Tickets to the swanky event cost a staggering $75,000 --or $13,000 more than the median salary in the U.S., according to Fidelity.

Paulson unironically called the outfit "the one percent," despite the fact that her net worth is estimated at $12 million, which makes her a member of the very class she protested on the red carpet. Not surprisingly, the wayward stunt provoked some strong reactions, with the blindfold being criticized as "tone deaf" and "oblivious" as well as "painfully out of touch."

The outfit, which was one of the simpler getups worn at the event, also called to mind AOC's "Tax the Rich" dress worn at the 2021 edition of the Met Gala. The New York congresswoman last year was ordered by the House Ethics Committee to pay an additional $3,000 after she was found to have underpaid for the dress, which qualified as an impermissible gift under House rules. AOC's 2021 fashion statement was also criticized by some as out of touch at the time. 

Elsewhere on the red carpet, Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson showed up wearing a skirt. He explained the wardrobe choice to reporters, saying that in the Polynesian culture, "The most masculine men -- not that I'm one of them -- wear skirts."