Share and Follow
In 2021, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stirred controversy during her appearance at the Met Gala, an event renowned for its high fashion and celebrity guests. The theme that year was “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,” and Ocasio-Cortez made a bold statement with her choice of attire. She wore a striking white gown, crafted by Aurora James of Brother Vellies, which featured an off-the-shoulder design and a dramatic trumpet silhouette. However, it wasn’t the dress’s design that captured the public’s attention, but rather the bold red lettering emblazoned on the back that declared, “Tax The Rich.” As she walked the red carpet with James, Ocasio-Cortez ensured photographers had ample opportunity to capture the provocative message.
James Devaney/Getty Images
After the event, Ocasio-Cortez faced significant backlash, particularly from her critics who objected to her leveraging the glamorous gala to advocate her “Tax The Rich” agenda. Among the critics was Donald Trump Jr., who took to X to label her a “fraud” for mingling with affluent left-wing elites.
Kevin Mazur/mg21 & Kevin Mazur/mg21/Getty
Following the Met Gala, the politician’s detractors attacked her online for using the prestigious fashion gala to spread her “Tax The Rich” messaging. Taking to X, Donald Trump Jr. called AOC a “fraud” who was “hanging out with a bunch of wealthy leftwing elites.”
The criticism wasn’t limited to political opponents on the right. The dress also sparked debate among those on the left. Vanessa Friedman, The New York Times’ fashion director, described Ocasio-Cortez’s attendance at the luxurious Met Gala in a custom gown as a “complicated proposition” in a viral tweet. This prompted a mix of online reactions, with some defending the Congresswoman and others accusing her of “hypocritical virtue-signaling,” as one X user commented.
The controversy surrounding the dress drew the attention of the Office of Congressional Ethics. By March 2023, an investigation was underway to determine if Ocasio-Cortez had accepted improper gifts related to her Met Gala appearance. According to BBC, the OCE indicated that, should she have received impermissible gifts, she might have breached House rules, ethical standards, and federal law.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was ordered to pay back the gifts she received
View Press/Getty Images
Four years later, the OCE concluded that Ocasio-Cortez had not settled debts to vendors in a timely fashion, leaving over $2,700 unpaid. Although the committee found no evidence of willful misconduct, they asserted that she had indeed received inappropriate gifts and needed to address the delays in payment, as detailed in a report published in July 2025. Since the events of 2021, Ocasio-Cortez has not attended the Met Gala, possibly deterred by the intense scrutiny her appearance had previously incited.
The dress wound up being one of the most inappropriate outfits a politician was caught wearing, as the headline-making dress drew the attention of the Office of Congressional Ethics. In March 2023, it officially launched an investigation into what was gifted to her for the Met Gala. “If Rep. Ocasio-Cortez accepted impermissible gifts, then she may have violated House rules, standards of conduct, and federal law,” the OCE wrote at the time, per BBC.
Nearly four years after she donned the dress, it was ruled by the OCE that Ocasio-Cortez had failed to pay back vendors she borrowed from in a timely manner, and she still owed over $2,700. “While the Committee did not find that Representative Ocasio-Cortez’s violations were knowing and willful, she nonetheless received impermissible gifts and must bear responsibility for the other conduct that occurred with respect to the delays in payment,” OCE wrote in a report released in July 2025. It should be noted that AOC did not appear at subsequent Met Galas, as the blowback from 2021 likely satiated her appetite for attention at that event.