Self-proclaimed “socialist” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was personally invited by the Metropolitan Museum of Art to Monday night’s gala — and didn’t have to fork over $35,000 for her ticket like so many others she mingled with at the lavish bash, sources confirmed to The Post.
Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) stunned as she joined other left-wing leaders like Mayor Bill de Blasio at the exclusive event — passing by a Black Lives Matter protest as she entered the gleaming halls of the Met.
The 1-percent bashing congresswoman – known as AOC – was joined by her longtime boyfriend, web developer Riley Roberts, whose ticket for the fashionable affair was also comped, it was confirmed.
The event, also attended by a list of stars from Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck to Kim Kardashian and Lil Nas X, charged $35,000 a ticket with tables starting at $200,000.
The benefit is The Costume Institute’s primary source of annual funding, and a host of celebrities are normally invited by the designers who dress them.
After flaunting her white gown emblazoned with ‘Tax The Rich’, designed by Aurora James, of the Brother Vellies brand, AOC tweeted early Tuesday that it was her “responsibility” to attend the Met Gala.
She justified wearing her dress by New York-based James – whom she hailed as a “sustainably focused, Black woman immigrant designer” — claiming they were there to “kick open the doors at the Met”.
“And before haters get wild flying off the handle, New York elected officials are routinely invited to and attend the Met due to our responsibilities in overseeing and supporting the city’s cultural institutions for the public,” she added: “I was one of several in attendance in this evening,” she noted defensively.
As The Post revealed, AOC wore multiple pieces from fine jewelry brand Mejuri on Monday night, including 14 karat solid gold hoop earrings valued at $450.
While her earrings are certainly less expensive than many of the other jewels loaned out to Met Gala celebs — such as Hailey Bieber’s Tiffany & Co. Blue Book diamond necklace — they are still worth more than the $300 weekly federal unemployment benefit that expired on Sept. 6.
A press release was sent out by Mejuri on Monday night, which read, “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wore multiple pieces from the leading fine jewelry brand Mejuri to the 2021 Met Gala: In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion. Alexandria wears the Large Tube Hoops and Dome Ring.“
