Alison Stewart: This is All Of It on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. The Met Gala is on Monday, but the evening before, you can find a very different kind of event taking place at the Bell House in Brooklyn. It's called the Debt Gala. It's a dance party/fundraiser that lampoons the red carpetness of the Met Gala. The proceeds from the Debt Gala go towards organizations that help people dealing with medical debts, hence the name. Joining us now to tell us more about the Debt Gala, please welcome one of its co-founders, Molly Gaebe. Nice to meet you, Molly.

Molly Gaebe: You, too.

Alison Stewart: Also joining us now is Joyelle Nicole Johnson, who has performed at past Debt Galas and actually has some personal experience with medical debt. We'll get into that. Hey, Joelle.

Joyelle Nicole Johnson: Joyelle, hey, it's me.

Alison Stewart: Hey, hey. Molly.

Molly Gaebe: Yes.

Alison Stewart: Where did the idea from the Dept Gala come from?

Molly Gaebe: Well, it came from where all good ideas come from, which is being a little too tipsy in a bar in Midtown. I was having a drink with my now co-founders, Tom Costello and Amanda Corday, and we were looking at coverage of the Met Gala. This was 2022, so the theme then was Gilded Glamour. It's an undeniably fun thing to do to scroll the pictures of the celebs and be a fashion critic for a night. It's also impossible not to contrast that extreme wealth and celebrity worship with what's happening literally right beyond the red carpet, which is that most people, or a lot of people in New York, are one ambulance ride away from bankruptcy.

We're out here hosting GoFundMes for insulin and chemotherapy. We got to thinking, what if we took the structure and the spectacle and the energy of this high-fashion event and used the energy and resources to do it for our own community and for economic justice?

Alison Stewart: Joyelle, how did you get involved with the Debt Gala?

Joyelle Nicole Johnson: I got involved with the Debt Gala because I am one of Molly Gaebe's favorite people in the world. That is how. She tapped me to perform at the Debt Gala, and I said, for medical debt? Absolutely. I'm your girl.

Alison Stewart: When you think about how much money you've brought in these past couple of years, how much has it been?

Molly Gaebe: With one of the organizations that were raising money for undue medical debt, $50 can eliminate over $5,000 in medical debt. We've raised over $500,000 to help eliminate medical debt. In this country, medical debt is the number one reason for personal bankruptcy. 40% of people have delayed or put off medical care because of costs, and it's a huge problem, and it's been normalized, and we really want to bring attention to it, and also build community with this event.

Alison Stewart: Molly, the theme is "Let them eat cake. Ruined riches." Why did you pick that as a theme this time around?

Molly Gaebe: We're leaning in to the French Revolution of it all, to another era of extreme wealth inequality when the rich people were powdering their wigs and the peasants were boiling shoe leather for dinner. We encourage people to if they want to lean into that part of it, they can also. If you just want to go the cake or the baked goods route, that's also fun, too. The ruined riches part of it is really the key. It's about taking something ornate or decadent and messing with it. Smudging the lipstick, breaking the champagne bottle. It's Versailles, but the mold has set in. If you want to come as a Faberge egg that's been through it, we very much encourage that.

Alison Stewart: Joyelle, I hope you don't mind me asking this personal question, but you've been involved with some medical debt in your life, and you've had consequences that come with it. Would you share your story with us?

Joyelle Nicole Johnson: Yes. I am an asthmatic. Shout out to all my people who can't breathe, especially with the pollen count right now in every city. I'm in Chicago right now, and I cannot go outside. I have had asthma attacks that I have had to think about how bad the attack was before I could go to the hospital. One time, I had to go to the hospital, and my attack was so bad that I pulled a muscle in my lung, and I was in so much pain. Then a couple of weeks later, I got a bill for about $15,000. I don't know if you've ever gotten a bill that just made you laugh.

I just started hysterically laughing at the bill because I was like, "I don't have this money to pay for it." I ended up applying for charity care at the time, which got me out of the debt. These days, I'm not eligible for that type of care. If I was to go to the hospital, I would be stuck with that debt. I've had plenty of situations where I've had to decide, is this an emergency, which I don't think people should have to decide in their lives. We should just be able to go to the hospital.

Alison Stewart: We're talking about the Debt Gala, a fundraiser event and dance party at The Bell House in Brooklyn this Sunday to raise money for people dealing with medical debt. My guests are Debt Gala co-founder Molly Gaebe and performer Joyelle Nicole Johnson. Are there any ground rules you folks have set around outfits for-- We said the theme was let them eat cake, ruined riches.

Molly Gaebe: No ground rules at all. We do like to encourage people to come in outfits that are upcycled or give something new life that they already have, because we want to preserve the glamour without creating excess garbage.

Alison Stewart: The glamour's a little important, though.

Molly Gaebe: It's very important.

Alison Stewart: I went on your Instagram page. I was like, "Okay, they're bringing it."

Molly Gaebe: Oh, people, bring it. The outfits have been incredible. Last year, someone wore-- Where our theme was sleeping baddies because the Mets was sleeping beauties, and she just took a quilt and wrapped it around her waist. I swear it looked couture, like it could have been on the Met red carpet, and you would have no idea.

Alison Stewart: Joyelle, are you going to perform at this year's event?

Joyelle Nicole Johnson: I am performing at this year's event. I'm super excited.

Alison Stewart: Can you give us a little preview of what we can expect or?

Joyelle Nicole Johnson: As my outfit? Outfit-wise?

Alison Stewart: Yes, show us your outfits first.

Joyelle Nicole Johnson: Yes. Sure. I have an event to go to afterwards, so I can't get too dramatic, but I will be wearing a vintage Burberry suit with some Gucci loafers that I did not pay full price for. I am going to add something dramatic that I could take off to go to the event afterwards. You will be seeing your girl looking very couture, but please, nobody chop my head off.

Alison Stewart: Molly, what are some of the lessons you've learned from Debt Gala's past, two have been in the past, that you and your co-founders have tweaked? You realize this is what we need to focus on a little more this time.

Molly Gaebe: We really just realized from the beginning that this is something that every community deserves. A space to build solidarity and to give your city a spotlight to shine. We live in New York. People who live here have to do so much with so little. When people get into the room and on the red carpet, everybody just lights up. This is so needed right now. I know we're all suffering under this seriously broken healthcare system, and the political climate is horrendous. What I've learned is that it's just an unmissable event.

You don't have to be a fashionista to enjoy it. You just got to show up and being with your fellow humans, raising money for these incredible causes, among other artists who are also struggling. There's just no other feeling like it.

Alison Stewart: Joyelle, what do you hope attendees take away from the event?

Joyelle Nicole Johnson: I hope they take away that I'm extremely funny and that they should follow me on all social media platforms. I also think that it's a perfect opportunity for people to think of what they can do for others. That's the way that I'm looking at this is being able to perform for people in debt makes so much. It means so much to me. Molly and I have done causes for women's reproductive rights and all these other situations. I just want people to take away that you can do something, and it can start by being drunk at a bar with friends and having an idea.

Alison Stewart: What do you want people to take away aside from going to the bar and having a good time? What do you want them to take away from the event?

Molly Gaebe: That access, whether it's to healthcare or financial relief or just a moment in the spotlight, shouldn't be reserved just for the elite. We're so creative, and we deserve a space to come together and celebrate everybody and wear insane costumes and make fun of billionaires who expect us to clap for them when they shoot their fiances into space. It's just we need the satire. We got to laugh, Alison, 'cause if we don't laugh, we will cry.

Alison Stewart: I'm just laughing at, like you're shooting a fiance into space, your hand gestures. That was enough.

[laughter]

Alison Stewart: For people who are with you, they're on board, they can't make it on Sunday night, what are other ways that they can contribute? They can be part of the cause.

Molly Gaebe: You can still donate to the Deck Gala. It's at our website @debtgala.com, and we're trying to build community all year long. We want to do some clothing swaps and really get people involved. If you love the cause, if you're really into fashion or sustainability or economic justice, you can get involved. We're trying to make this bigger than just a one-night-a-year annual event. We really want to build community around it.

Alison Stewart: Real quick, just for somebody who asked, how would you walk through the evening? Is it a dance party? Is it a performance? How does it go?

Molly Gaebe: You get there, you get to the red carpet, you get your photo taken professionally, paparazzi, everything. Then you get into the event, you get to mingle with the hottest people you've ever seen. Then you get to see a variety show produced by Stagetime, hosted by PJ Adzima. It's going to be hilarious. There's a balloonist. There's drag. There's music. There's Robert Silk Mason, who is magical Mr. Mistoffelees. Angelico Ball is going be there with their entire house. There's stand-up. Joyelle Johnson is there. You're going to be entertained harder than you've ever been entertained before. Then a big old brass band is coming in and going to usher in a dance party of the century. You're just going to leave feeling great and sexy.

Alison Stewart: One of our producers just typed into my Slack. "I gasped."

Molly Gaebe: [laughs] You will gasp at the outfits.

Alison Stewart: The Debt Gala is happening this Sunday, May 4, at The Bell House in Brooklyn. My guests have been Joyelle, Nicole Johnson, and Molly Gaebe. Thanks so much. Have a fabulous gala.

Molly Gaebe: We will.

Joyelle Nicole Johnson: Thank you.