Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sánchez Venice marriage ceremony prompts protests : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7532x5022+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F68%2F34%2F75db93a7478498fb11516e66f81b%2Fgettyimages-2220914020.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7532x5022+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F68%2F34%2F75db93a7478498fb11516e66f81b%2Fgettyimages-2220914020.jpg" class="img" alt="Activists with the international environmental group Greenpeace display a giant banner displaying a picture of Jeff Bezos in Venice's St. Mark's Square on Monday." fetchpriority="high"/> Activists with the worldwide environmental group Greenpeace show a large banner displaying an image of Jeff Bezos in Venice's St. Mark's Sq. on Monday. Stefano Rellandini/AFP by way of Getty Photographs conceal caption

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Stefano Rellandini/AFP by way of Getty Photographs Activists in Venice, Italy, are protesting the upcoming vacation spot marriage ceremony of tech billionaire Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sánchez, as studies of the occasion's excessive extravagance divide the town.

Bezos — the Amazon founder and Washington Put up proprietor — is among the world's richest males, with an estimated web price of $231 billion based on Bloomberg's Billionaires Index. He and Sánchez — a former information anchor and licensed pilot — received engaged in 2023, 4 years after going public with their relationship.

Their nuptials have been the topic of hypothesis and intense secrecy ever since.

After coming back from the transient — and broadly panned — all-female spaceflight she organized on one in every of Bezos' Blue Origin rockets in April, Sánchez quipped that she needed to make it again safely for her marriage ceremony, in any other case "that will be a bummer for me."

Sánchez's brother Paul has in contrast it to the 1981 royal marriage ceremony of Prince Charles and Woman Diana Spencer, telling TMZ in March, "I feel it is gonna be like a Princess Di factor."

Whereas exact particulars in regards to the marriage ceremony stay beneath wraps, Italian media and world newswires report it is going to be held in Venice in late June. Studies of a multiday, multimillion-dollar affair — is anticipated to attract a whole bunch of celebrants to a fragile lagoon metropolis already grappling with overtourism — sparked considerations in Italy.

In March, the town of Venice denied media studies that marriage ceremony organizers had reserved massive numbers of gondolas and water taxis for the occasion, which had fueled fears of disruptions for the vacationers and locals who use them for day by day transport.

Venetian officers mentioned there could be solely 200 friends, an simply accommodated quantity for a metropolis used to internet hosting all kinds of political summits, cultural occasions and VIP weddings (together with George and Amal Clooney's in 2014).

"We're mutually working and supporting the organizers, to make sure that the occasion can be completely respectful of the fragility and uniqueness of the town," Mayor Luigi Brugnaro mentioned, based on the Related Press.

However that hasn't stopped protesters from making their disapproval identified. Activists uniting beneath the "No Area for Bezos" motion — nodding to the {couples}' spacefaring pursuits — have taken subject with what they name the privatization of their metropolis and the native authorities's perceived prioritization of tourism over the wants of its residents.

All through the month, protesters have hung anti-Bezos posters and banners on varied areas throughout the town, together with the bell tower of the San Giorgio Maggiore basilica and the well-known Rialto Bridge. On Monday, activists from Greenpeace Italy and the U.Okay. group "Everybody Hates Elon [Musk]" joined the motion, Reuters studies.

They hung a banner in St. Mark's Sq., with an image of Bezos laughing and the phrases: "In the event you can hire Venice in your marriage ceremony you'll be able to pay extra tax."

Lanza & Baucina Restricted, the organizers of the Bezos-Sánchez marriage ceremony, have launched a uncommon assertion looking for to set the document straight about "rumours of 'taking up' the town," calling them "completely false and diametrically against our objectives and to actuality."

It mentioned "no exaggerated amount" of water taxis or gondolas have been booked, and the variety of taxis reserved is "proportionate for the variety of friends."

"From the outset, directions from our shopper and our personal guiding ideas have been abundantly clear: the minimising of any disruption to the town, the respect for its residents and establishments and the overwhelming employment of locals within the crafting of the occasions," the agency informed NPR in a press release on Monday.

When requested for remark, an Amazon spokesperson referred NPR to the organizers' assertion.

This is what else we all know — and nonetheless do not — in regards to the marriage ceremony and the protests towards it.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3600x2400+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff6%2F43%2F40084449498caf1549ee12478e83%2Fgettyimages-2203098198.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3600x2400+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff6%2F43%2F40084449498caf1549ee12478e83%2Fgettyimages-2203098198.jpg" class="img" alt="Lauren Sánchez and Jeff Bezos, pictured at the 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party in March." loading="lazy"/> Lauren Sánchez and Jeff Bezos, pictured on the 2025 Vainness Honest Oscar Get together in March, have been engaged since 2023. Taylor Hill/FilmMagic conceal caption

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Taylor Hill/FilmMagic The place and when is the marriage? Most studies say the marriage celebrations will span three days, however the actual dates differ.

Reuters and others say the window is probably going June 26-28, whereas the AP — citing Italian media — beforehand reported it may very well be June 24-26.

There have been equally conflicting studies in regards to the ceremony's whereabouts.

A spokesperson for Brugnaro, Venice's mayor, informed CNN in March that it could happen on Bezos' 417-foot superyacht, the Koru. The ship has made headlines earlier than: In 2022, the Dutch metropolis of Rotterdam thought of quickly dismantling a historic bridge to permit the Koru to depart the shipyard the place it was constructed — however reversed course after residents protested, together with threatening to egg it.

However different shops, together with CNN and The Hollywood Reporter, report that the couple could get married on the non-public island of San Giorgio Maggiore, particularly in a monastery there.

The "No Area for Bezos" activists, in the meantime, say the marriage is meant to happen within the 14th-century Scuola Grande della Misericordia, a college armory-turned-event venue, based on EuroNews and CNN. The protesters are hoping that will not occur.

"Bezos won't ever get to the Misericordia," organizer Federica Toninello informed supporters at a protest earlier this month, per CNN. "We'll block the canals, line the streets with our our bodies, block the canals with inflatables, dinghies, boats."

Why are folks protesting? Locals against the marriage festivities have a number of considerations, starting from logistical disruptions to environmental impacts of a sudden inflow of yachts and personal jets.

"Bezos is mainly going to deal with the entire metropolis as a non-public ballroom, as a non-public occasion space, as if the residents should not there," protester Alice Bazzoli informed Sky Information.

The island metropolis is actively sinking attributable to rising sea ranges and mass tourism. In an effort to curb the latter, it now requires day-trippers over the age of 14 to pay a day by day tax on sure days (both 5 or 10 euros relying on timing) to go to its 2.5 square-mile historic metropolis heart.

The huge inflow of vacationers has worsened the housing disaster, as many residential buildings have been transformed into short-term leases, and led to a drop within the inhabitants as many residents strive their luck elsewhere.

It is towards this backdrop that Bezos and Sánchez are arriving for his or her marriage ceremony, which regional governor Luca Zaia has mentioned is anticipated to price the equal of $23-$34 million. Whereas Zaia says that may give a much-needed enhance to the native financial system, folks protesting the occasion fear they will not personally expertise the advantages of that cash.

"Venice (like in all places) wants public companies and housing, not VIPs and over-tourism," Greenpeace UK mentioned on Bluesky. " It is time to #TaxTheSuperRich and make them pay for the destruction they trigger – the world will not be their playground."

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/8256x5504+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fea%2Fbd%2Fc7c786d34fa2bd8508aa87c4b69e%2Fgettyimages-2219223210.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/8256x5504+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fea%2Fbd%2Fc7c786d34fa2bd8508aa87c4b69e%2Fgettyimages-2219223210.jpg" class="img" alt="A poster reading "No space for Bezos" displayed in Venice, Italy." loading="lazy"/> Protesters have displayed anti-Jeff Bezos posters and banners all through Venice, the place the tech billionaire is because of marry journalist Lauren Sánchez on the finish of June. Andrea Pattaro/AFP by way of Getty Photographs conceal caption

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Andrea Pattaro/AFP by way of Getty Photographs What has the response been to protests? Venice's mayor, Brugnaro, informed reporters Friday that he was ashamed of the protesters, saying "we must apologize to Bezos."

"I hope that Bezos comes anyway," he mentioned. "Not all Venetians suppose like these protesters."

The marriage organizers, Lanza & Baucina Restricted, mentioned of their assertion that since earlier than the protests broke out, it had "labored for there to be minimal destructive impression or disruption to the lives of Venetians and the town's guests."

"We've at all times acknowledged the broader debate and significant points surrounding the town's future, and from the outset our shopper has been honoured to assist the town and its all-important lagoon by non-profit organisations and related tasks," the corporate added.

Bezos has made sizable contributions to Venetian charities within the lead-up to the marriage, together with a million-euro donation to Corila, an educational consortium that research Venice's lagoon ecosystem, Reuters studies. Based on the AP, Corila confirmed over the weekend that Bezos' Earth Fund had made an "essential donation" again in April, properly earlier than protests began.

The AP studies that at the least two historic Venetian firms will contribute to the festivities: Rosa Salva, the town's oldest pastry maker, and Laguna B, a design studio well-known for its distinctive, handmade Murano glassware.

Antonio Rosa Salva, the sixth era in his household to run the bakery, mentioned he can be supplying a collection of treats for friends' goody luggage — and welcomes the glory.

"I do not see how an occasion with 200 folks can create disruptions," he informed the AP. "It is prestigious {that a} couple like this, who can go wherever on the planet, are getting married within the metropolis."