What does "Let Them Eat Cake" mean and why is it offensive? Haley Kalil comes under fire over 2024 Met Gala video
Social media influencer Haley Kalil is receiving immense backlash following her 2024 Met Gala appearance. As the TikTok sensation attended fashion’s biggest night, one of her latest videos, posted to commemorate the event, raised eyebrows. In the video, the TikToker uttered the infamous phrase, “Let them eat cake!” which left netizens startled.
During the annual Met Gala event, Haley Kalil, created a TikTok video where she used the Sofia Coppola Marie Antoinette movie's audio, where the late queen said the phrase mentioned above.
For those uninitiated, the phrase has been widely recognized as “tone-deaf,” as it mimics the economic hardships of the working class just before the French Revolution took place.
Haley Kalil, a Minnesota native, graduated summa cum laude from St. Cloud State University. She has amassed over 14 million followers across all social media accounts, and has appeared on numerous magazine covers, including Glamour and Grazia. She has also worked with brands like L’Oreal, NFL, Hugo Boss, and CeraVe, among others.
Many could not believe that Haley Kalil used the ‘Let Them Eat Cake’ phrase at the Vogue event. Some tweets on the matter read as follows:
The origin of the ‘Let Them Eat Cake’ phrase explained as Haley Kalil garners backlash for Met Gala TikTok video
It is worth noting that the phrase originated in France during the 18th century, amidst economic hardships due to the widespread famine, particularly in Paris. Adding to the natural disaster, the working class and the poor were burdened by heavy taxation with poor harvest, leading to many being unable to afford bread, let alone a cake.
Despite many assuming that the ‘Let Them Eat Cake’ phrase was said by Marie Antoinette, It is far from the truth. The original French phrase is “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche.” The last word is of significance as it is a rich, sweet bread that has been associated with luxury in the past due to its rich ingredients like eggs, butter, and milk, which were expensive at the time of the famine.
"Let Them Eat Cake" suggested that if peasants could not afford bread, they should simply eat something more expensive in nature, which misunderstood the food scarcity and economic hardships faced by the lower classes.
At the time of writing this article, Haley Kalil had not responded to the controversy.
This year, the Met Gala introduced the Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The theme for the fashionable soiree was dubbed The Garden of Time, inspired by J.G. Ballard’s short story of the same name, which follows a beautiful princess who is sent into a magical sleep and gets awakened by her one true love.
Speaking about the theme, Met Director Max Hollein said in a press statement:
“Sleeping Beauties will heighten our engagement with these masterpieces of fashion by evoking how they feel, move, sound, smell and interact when being worn, ultimately offering a deeper appreciation of the integrity, beauty and artistic brilliance of the works on display.”
The Met Gala often has iconic themes, with last year the organization paying tribute to late fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld.