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Met Gala must 'do the work' to be more inclusive, Marissa Bode says
Marissa Bode at the 2025 Easterseals Disability Film Challenge at Sony Pictures Studios.
The Wicked superstar and Out100 honoree shared a new video reacting to the 2025 Met Gala.
Out100 honoree Marissa Bode is calling out the Met Gala — and the fashion industry overall — for its lack of inclusivity in regard to people with disabilities. In a video shared on social media, the Wicked actress opened up about how the Met Gala "needs to do the work" to be more inclusive of all people, such as herself, who uses a wheelchair.
"Disabled people have been screaming for years to be included," Bode said in a new TikTok video on Thursday, May 8. "Doing the work," she argued, comes not only from being consistent, but also the quality of opportunities available to people with disabilities. "Not just 'Oh, you can book this one special diversity shoot. You can be a part of this one special episode.' I mean included included, regularly."
Bode added that those in power should do a better job of hiring people with disabilities, noting: "We do often exist in the same spaces, in real life, together." Even though the community doesn't need a "savior," the Wicked star remarked that "all we want is to be heard, and listened to, and included."
"If you're in the industry and have the means to do [ask], 'Hey, why aren't there other disabled people at the Met, and who can I talk to, to help that happen?'"
@marissa_edob Care more about disabled people!!!! If you don’t care now, once again: you could become disabled tomorrow. This is a universal fight. #marissasthoughtoftheday
Bode ends the video with a call to action:
"I am begging others and non-disabled people to uplift those voices and question those within your spaces, and more people within power to step it up. If you are truly allies, do the work. Help us all get there because we cannot do this on our own."
Over the years, several celebrities and activists have been pushing for more inclusive spaces at the Met Gala. Namely, an activist named Hannah Diviney wrote an open letter to Anna Wintour in 2024 that was published on Marie Claire Australia. In it, she said the infamous steps at the Met Museum — where the carpet takes place — is "no greater signal that people like me are not all that welcome in the worlds of fashion."
Diviney ended her letter echoing similar arguments brought up by Bode in her new video. "With our inclusion, not only would you be transforming ALL of those industries forever, but you'd transform how the world looked at anyone who opened Instagram or used the Internet on the first Monday in May."
Moises Mendez II is a culture journalist based in Brooklyn, New York. He covers internet culture and entertainment including television, movies, music, and more. For the last two years, he was a Culture Reporter at TIME Magazine. Before that, he was a freelance journalist and his work has appeared in The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Fast Company, and more. Moises holds a master's degree in Arts and Culture journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.
Moises Mendez II is a culture journalist based in Brooklyn, New York. He covers internet culture and entertainment including television, movies, music, and more. For the last two years, he was a Culture Reporter at TIME Magazine. Before that, he was a freelance journalist and his work has appeared in The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Fast Company, and more. Moises holds a master's degree in Arts and Culture journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.
