Add The New York Post on Google Is it “Tax the Rich” or “Don’t Pay Your Vendors”?
Fashion designer Aurora James — who created AOC’s infamous “Tax the Rich” Met Gala gown — is being sued for $1 million for allegedly stiffing the event planners of her celebrity mega bash, The Post can reveal.
In February, James hosted the “15 Percent Pledge Gala 2026″ in Los Angeles with the aim of raising cash for black business owners. Meghan Markle was in attendance, while Beyoncé’s mom Tina Knowles was honored at the event.
However, in court papers seen by The Post, party organizers The Gathery insist they are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars. Their lawsuit claims that a “fraudulent” James “repeatedly induced” them to continue working, “all while knowing, or recklessly disregarding, that 15PP lacked the ability to pay.”
The Gathery has filed a civil lawsuit in New York Supreme Court against James, 15 Percent Pledge, and its fiscal sponsor, Philanthropic Ventures Foundation (PVF).
The complaint alleges that The Gathery produced the 2026 gala, advanced substantial vendor and production costs, and was left with $777,871.84 in unpaid principal, plus contractually owed interest, attorneys’ fees, and other claimed financial damages.
The suit seeks $1,082,965.28 from James, Fifteen Percent Pledge and PVF.
James, 42, founded the non-profit organization in June 2020 following the murder of George Floyd. It challenges retailers to dedicate 15% of their shelf space to black-owned entrepreneurs and creatives.
Her clothes have been worn by everyone from Beyoncé and her sister, Solange Knowles, to Markle and Nicki Minaj. But it was AOC who got her on the front pages back in 2021 when she donned the white gown emblazoned with ‘Tax The Rich’ to the Met Gala.
This is not the first time that James — who owns a $1.6 million LA cottage that has been featured in Architectural Digest — has landed in hot water.
In 2021, the Post reported that she had unpaid debts dogging her in multiple states.
The February gala, which was held at the Paramount Studios in Hollywood, attracted a slew of high-profile guests including multi-millionaire fashion tycoon Emma Grede, Kimora Lee Simmons and Law Roach, the stylist behind Zendaya’s most iconic looks.
The court filing reads, “Defendant Aurora James (“James”), the founder and principal of 15PP, personally directed the project and repeatedly induced TGI to continue performing even after payment defaults had begun. James approved change orders expanding the scope and cost of the event, signed the February 4, 2026, amendment admitting breach, and assured TGI that payment would be forthcoming — all while knowing, or recklessly disregarding, that 15PP lacked the ability to pay.
“Despite receiving the full benefit of TGI’s work, Defendants have failed and refused to pay over one million dollars owed for those services.”
According to its website, cited in the court papers, 15PP “is a racial equity and economic justice non-profit organization working towards a more equitable economic future.
“Launched in 2020 by Aurora James, the initiative was born from seeing multiple acts of injustice and police brutality in the United States with a lack of accountability for the systemic issues at play.”
The Gathery had produced the annual fundraiser in 2024 and 2025 with no issues, the suit states, but things went downhill when 15PP paid its first two installments in October 2025, but then began missing payments in November 2025 — all while James allegedly signed off on thousands of dollars more in expenses.
In 2021, the Post reported that James, who shares a son with Benjamin Bronfman — the son of famed music executive Edgar Bronfman Jr. and actress Sherry Brewer — had arrears on Cultural Brokerage Agency, an LLC she formed in 2011 to serve as the parent company of her fashion brand, known as Brother Vellies.
The company racked up three open tax warrants for 2018 and 2019 in New York state for failing to withhold income taxes from employees’ paychecks totaling $14,798, the state Department of Taxation and Finance confirmed. The company had been hit with 15 warrants in total since 2015.
Cultural Brokerage Agency has also faced multiple legal challenges alleging repeated nonpayment of worker benefits.
In October 2019, the state Worker’s Compensation Board slapped the company with a $17,000 fine for not carrying worker’s-comp insurance between March 2017 and February 2018. The company owed $62,722 and no payments had been received, a rep for the board told The Post at the time. Workers’ comp is paid out when an employee is hurt at work and misses time.
