Celebs staying at The Surrey Hotel in NYC for famed Met Gala face protest from fired workers
Celebrities from Cardi B to Tom Cruise who are staying at a tony Manhattan hotel for the posh Met Gala will be confronted with an ugly labor dispute before walking the red carpet Monday, union bigs warn.
Members of the Hotel Trade Council union say they will be holding a protest outside The Surrey Hotel, where many A-list attendees of the famed Met Museum event are staying on nearby East 76th Street.
4 Members of the Hotel Trade Council union say they will be holding a protest outside The Surrey Hotel.
Olga Ginzburg for NY Post
Advertisement
The Surrey closed in 2020 during the pandemic and went into bankruptcy, then reopened in October under the Corinthia Hotels brand and new ownership by the Reuben Brothers, a global investment company based in London, Geneva and Milan.
But nearly 100 of the hotel's workers who lost their jobs during the closure were never rehired by the new management when it reopened, a move that the trade council is blasting as a union-busting tactic.
The displaced workers filed a lawsuit in March against the new ownership, claiming the loss of their jobs violated a law approved during the pandemic aimed at retaining workers, even during a change in ownership. The case is pending.
Advertisement
Stars staying at The Surrey for Monday's fete include Cardi B, Cruise, Alicia Keys, Shakira, Cristiano Ronaldo, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, Angela Bassett, Tommy Hilfiger and executives from the Burberry, Valentino and Stella McCartney brands, according to the HTC.
4 Stars staying at The Surrey for Monday's fete include Cardi B and Shakira.
Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
The union said it has contacted reps from each of the celebrities and asked for them to show their support for the workers. The labor activists said they will make another round of calls to the celebs early Monday.
The fired workers and their union are pressuring the stars 'to step off the red carpet and stand with them' by demanding The Surrey rehire them.
Advertisement
The Surrey is offering its gala customers an ultra-deluxe spa treatment featuring Sisley Paris for those seeking 'a transformative, red-carpet-ready experience,' with 'expert sculpting massage, LED light therapy, and a rejuvenating eye treatment' available.
Among the former Surrey workers who want to look the entertainers and sports figures to back them is Merry Coronado, who was a room attendant at the hotel since 2010 before getting the heave-ho.
'I am a single mom, so my job at The Surrey means everything to me,' Coronado said in a statement to The Post. 'This job fed my two daughters, paid for us to live in a good apartment, and enabled me to buy a car.
4 Mery Coronado was one of the workers laid off when the hotel closed and went bankrupt during the pandemic.
Hotel Trades Council
Advertisement
'When I lost this job, it was devastating. I've had to go into debt just to survive, to keep food on the table and the lights on. I'm fighting for my job back, so I can get my family's life back.'
Donna McCammon, a room attendant at the hotel since 2002 before getting laid off, said, 'Losing my job at The Surrey has been one of the hardest experiences of my life.
'I am the sole breadwinner for my household, and without the steady income, it was incredibly difficult,' McCammon said.
'I went from a stable job at The Surrey that allowed me to provide for my family, to having to take a job working the overnight shift just to survive. After working at The Surrey for decades, I had the expectation that my coworkers and I were going back to our jobs. We're not giving up that hope.'
4 The labor activists said they will make another round of calls to the celebs early Monday.
Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
The former Surrey workers were 'unfairly cast aside' by the hotel's new owners, said Rich Maroko, president of the HTC.
'We're calling on the celebrities staying at The Surrey to show support for the workers and join us in demanding that they be rehired,' Maroko said.
Advertisement
Reps for The Surrey had no immediate comment.
The theme for Monday's Met Gala is 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,' with a dress code of 'Tailored for You' based around the history of the black dandy. Head honcho Anna Wintour tapped an all-male lineup to chair the event: Colman Domingo, ASAP Rocky, Pharrell Williams and Lewis Hamilton.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Sequins. Feathers. Drama. Bob Mackie Didn't Just Design Clothes — He Created Moments
Sequins. Feathers. Drama. Bob Mackie Didn't Just Design Clothes — He Created Moments originally appeared on L.A. Mag. It's hard to separate Bob Mackie from the legends he's dressed—Elton John, Cher, Diana Ross, Tina Turner, RuPaul Charles, Carol Burnett—but behind every rhinestone and feather lies the vision of an artist who knew, instinctively, how to magnify a person's pure essence through silhouette, shimmer, and new documentary, 'Naked Illusion', Directed by Matthew Miele which is now streaming on PRIME, peels back the rhinestone curtain and reveals the man behind the magic. This isn't just fashion history — it's a glittering masterclass that doesn't just show his work; it shows how his vision helped steer the whole showbiz machine. Trust me, when I say darling, you'll want to watch every fabulous frame! Speaking with him feels like slipping into fashion history. And yet, Bob is anything but stuck in the past. He's warm, sharp, and disarmingly candid. He doesn't just speak in quotes—he tells stories that a deeply personal conversation with me he weaves through his childhood, his creative awakening, his unexpected family revelations, and his thoughts on Pride, Mackie reflects on what it means to be seen and to survive. With humor and grace, the man who defined red carpet magic opens up like never before.'I always knew I was different,' Mackie says from his home in Palm Springs. His voice soft but certain. 'I didn't play the same games as the other boys. I wasn't interested in baseball—I could draw, and that's what I did.' Mackie spent much of his childhood in the company of his British grandmother—no pets, no nonsense—and a boundless imagination. While other kids ran laps, he taped miniature set designs to Coke bottles, staging elaborate fantasy productions with paper dolls and records. 'I would build these little shows on my dresser,' he recalls. 'Play music, change the sets. Then start all over again.'Those daydreams eventually drew him to Hollywood, California, first sketching for other designers before making a name for himself as the go-to for showbiz reinvention.'People say I do 'the Cher look,'' he laughs. 'But Cher is Cher. Diana Ross is Diana. Mitzi Gaynor, totally different. You have to know who you're dressing. Their body, their energy, their essence.'That essence has defined some of fashion's most unforgettable moments. I ask him about the Met Gala, and his eyes light up. '1974. I went with Cher. It was quiet when we walked in… and then, boom. Hundreds of photographers. That dress is still in papers every year.'Even now, he speaks of Cher not just with pride, but with the affection of a creative soulmate. They understood each other without needing to it's not all sequins and applause. In the documentary, Mackie revealed something far more intimate: a granddaughter and two great-granddaughters he never knew he had.'It was a shock,' he says. 'But when I saw their pictures—I thought, they look like my son. They look like me.'He beams as he describes them—smart, sweet, and stylish, with a fondness for vintage shopping and a family full of creative women.'They've got great taste,' he adds, grinning. 'One's even got a stylist aunt in LA.' Mackie isn't interested in slowing down. He's still designing, still dreaming, but these days he chooses his projects carefully—joy is the driver now.'I don't do it every day like I used to,' he says. 'But when I do? I still love it.'And the advice for young designers hoping to follow in his footsteps?'Work for someone whose style you admire. Learn from them. But don't copy them. Find your own voice.'It's the same spirit he instilled in every dress: boldness, individuality, and a belief in the conversation winds down, I share a personal story. About wearing a tuxedo with a half-ballgown to Elton John's Oscar party in LA. About the pride my mother Marianne felt seeing me in the look. About how growing up I would see all of Bob's creations flipping through magazines had inspired it all. 'You wore it,' he smiles. 'That's what matters. You did it. That's the power of clothes.'Bob Mackie gave stars their wings. But perhaps his greatest gift is reminding us that we all deserve to shine. This story was originally reported by L.A. Mag on Jun 1, 2025, where it first appeared.
Fox News
16 hours ago
- Fox News
Shakira cancels sixth concert of world tour amid ongoing issues
Shakira canceled a Saturday concert in Washington, D.C. – her sixth cancellation this year. The popular Colombian singer was scheduled to perform this weekend at Nationals Park, although it seems the cancellation of her Thursday show in Boston at Fenway Park made it impossible for her and her team to make it to the show. Capital Pride Alliance, the organization that had put together the event, shared in a statement on social media, "Like Shakira's fans and our friends and family who have traveled from around the world to join us in DC this weekend, we are deeply disappointed that unforeseen circumstances have forced the cancellation of both this week's concert in Boston and [Saturday]'s concert at Nationals Park." The organization also shared another statement that was given to people who had purchased tickets to the event. "Due to complications with the previous show in Boston, Shakira's full tour production cannot be transported to Washington, D.C. in time for her scheduled performance at Nationals Park on Saturday, May 31," that statement read. "As a result, the D.C. show has been canceled. Despite every effort to make it happen, it is not possible to move forward as planned." Shakira shared a message of her own to her Instagram followers, writing, "Nothing more painful for an artist than having to cancel two sold-out stadium shows like Boston and DC for reasons beyond one's control." "Thank you for being there in the good times and the not so good," she continued. "We've cruised together through every bump in the road, and you always take me to the other side. Los quiero con todo." In February, Shakira launched her "Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran" world tour in South America. Shortly after, she canceled a concert in Lima, Peru – her third show of the tour – because she'd been hospitalized with an "abdominal issue." A week later, a concert in Colombia was postponed when the roof of the stage "suffered damage that puts at risk the safety of the artist, her staff and, most importantly, that of the audience" while a production team was assembling her show, the promotor explained in a statement translated by Billboard. At the beginning of March, she was set to perform two shows in Santiago, Chile, both of which were canceled just hours before the first was slated to begin. In a lengthy statement she shared on social media at the time, translated from Spanish to English by People, she explained in part that there was an issue with the stage assembly, and that it was "not stable enough to guarantee the safety of my band, dancers, fans and me." "There are two things I would never compromise: the security of my team and that of my fans, and I would never offer a show below the quality standards that you all deserve," she wrote. "My heart is broken in a thousand pieces to not be able to perform for you due to reasons out of my control." Stage safety concerns were once again to blame for the cancellation of her Thursday performance in Boston at Fenway Park. A representative for Live Nation told Fox News Digital, "During a routine pre-show check, structural elements were identified as not being up to standard, so the shows were canceled. All team members are safe." After the cancellation of Saturday's show in Washington, D.C., social media users began discussing what seems to be a developing trend for the tour. "This is just disrespectful to her fans… last minute every time," one person wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Another wrote, "I love shakira to death but i can't accept any excuses. no matter how many technical issues they bring out. this is is just her fault. cancelling your concert on the show day is just unacceptable. idk if you know how this have impacted your image." "I can understand one or two shows, but 6 is ridiculous!" another post read. "Figure it out before or get a regular stage that doesn't extend on the floor since it seems like that is the issue here." Others were upset at the news, including one fan who wrote, "Can't believe this ! Ughhhh! My entire weekend was planned around this show." Another insisted, "All I know is, Shakira will never cancel or reschedule if things are up to her."
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
‘Nothing more painful': Shakira addresses public after recent concert cancellations
Following the recent cancellation of her Boston show, Shakira has addressed the public after her second show was called off. This comes just days after Shakira's and Jason Aldean's concerts were called off. In a statement from LiveNation to Boston 25, 'During a routine pre-show check, structural elements were identified as not being up to standard, so the shows were canceled. All team members are safe." Shakira was set to perform in Washington, D.C, on Saturday; however, due to previous structural issues with her stage, the show had to be called off. The singer was set to perform a part of the WorldPride DC Tour, but due to the previous stage malfunctions that occurred in Boston, the show was called off. Fans will be refunded their money, but left with disappointment. Shakira took to Instagram, posting on her story: Nothing more painful for an artist than having to cancel two sold-out stadium shows like Boston and DC for reasons beyond one's control. Thank you for being there in the good times and the not so good. We've cruised together through every bump in the road, and you always take me to the other side. Los quiero con todo. Shakira is set to perform on Monday, June 2, in Alanta barring any further developments. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
