Jeff Bezos and his alive girl, Lauren Sánchez, are finally tying the knot in Venice. Guess Portofino is played out? The couple are set to say “Si, lo voglio” this month, but Venetians aren’t entirely keen. Protests have broken out decrying not just the wedding but tourism in general ruining the City of Canals. “This wedding is the symbol of the exploitation of the city by outsiders,” one protester told the BBC. “Venice is now just an asset.” The protesters have united under the banner “No Space for Bezos.” Because, you know, penis rocket. Here’s everything we know about the wedding, the protests against the wedding, the guest list, and just how much the fourth-richest dude in the world is spending on this shindig.
Why are Venetians protesting?
The protests in Venice come at the same time as many other European cities have been hit with anti-tourism demonstrations. Per NBC News, protests broke out in Lisbon, Mallorca, and Barcelona, where tourists were shot with water guns. Employees of the Louvre staged a walkout on Monday, shutting down the museum in what news media have called a “spontaneous” strike.
The mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro, instituted a daily 5 euro ($5.79) entrance fee to the city, but protesters don’t feel it’s enough. Brugnaro said he was “ashamed” of the protests and is welcoming the Bezanchezes with open arms.
How fancy are we talking, here?
Venice officials point out the Amazon wedding is hardly the biggest or most disruptive event on the calendar. “The city is fully accustomed to hosting high-profile events of this nature and scale, including other celebrity weddings, international summits such as the G7 and G20, as well as traditional events like the Festa del Redentore and the Venice Biennale,” city-hall officials said in a statement.
According to the BBC, the wedding will completely take over the island of San Giorgio, which faces St. Mark’s Square. There will be around 250 guests, who will “will blend into the daily rhythm” of the city. Three or four hotels will accommodate all of them, and only 30 of Venice’s 280 water taxis have been reserved. The couple’s wedding planners say the festivities will play out over three days.
Are there any upsides to the wedding for Venice?
According to Page Six, Besoz and Sánchez are trying to put a lot of money into Venice in exchange for extracting all those canal selfies and water taxi rides. 80 percent of the wedding is coming from local vendors “including pastry maker Rosa Salva and Murano glass blower Laguna B.” As part of their wedding planning in April, the couple donated to various local charities, also donating in honor of their guests. Whether this makes up for any disruptions the city may face, or for the damage Amazon does to Venice on a daily basis, you’d have to ask Venetians.
Who is attending the Besoz-Sánchez affair?
Who are these potentially-disruptive-to-the-daily-rhythm-of-Venice guests, anyway? People is reporting the Kushner boys and their wives, Ivanka Trump and Karlie Kloss, have been invited. It also seems likely the guests from Sánchez’s bachelorette party will be in attendance — Katy Perry, Kim Kardashian, Eva Longoria, and sports journalist Charissa Thompson are among the likely invites — and folks like Oprah, Bill Gates, and Kris Jenner were all at the engagement party in 2023. But to get the full guest list, we’ll just have to keep our eyes on the canals.