How Lauren Sanchez's ex got the last laugh: Movie exec Patrick Whitesell is 'living the dream' with new bride

Daily Mail​

27-05-2025

If a man introduces his wife of 14 years to a male friend, only for them to embark on affair, it would be totally understandable for him to feel somewhat bitter at them walking down the aisle together, cheered on by Hollywood stars and the US President himself.
However, when Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez exchange vows in Venice next month, there's unlikely to be any pangs of envy from her ex-husband Patrick Whitesell, 60, who has since found happiness with a glamorous Australian actress almost two decades his junior.
The soon-to-be Mrs Bezos propelled into mega-stardom when she cheated on Hollywood movie executive Patrick with the Amazon founder, 61.
It emerged in 2010 that Jeff had been 'whisking then married Lauren away on exotic trips' and embarking on 'secret rendezvous' - all while he kept up the façade as the perfect family man and husband to his then-wife of 25 years, Mackenzie Scott.
After bouncing back from his ex-wife's infidelity, Patrick - who sits on a net worth of an estimated net worth of $450million - is now halfway to being a billionaire and relishing in his new marriage with his glamorous actress and model wife Pia, 41.
She previously starred in Home & Away, but since moving to LA with Patrick she's carved out a new low-key identity as an influencer with her own skincare brand - a world away from Lauren's showy brand of celebrity.
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The soon-to-be Mrs Bezos propelled into mega-stardom when she cheated on Hollywood movie executive Patrick Whitesell with the Amazon founder, 61 (R) - whom Patrick introduced her too (All pictured together in 2016 years before their affair emerged)
While Lauren enjoyed a lavish hen do in Paris earlier this month attended by Kim Kardashian, Katy Perry and Kris Jenner, the Whitesells circle includes the cream of the Hollywod A-list, including Ryan Reynolds, Denzel Washington and Hugh Jackman.
Not that they are likely to shout about it. The American businessman enjoys a private life away from the spotlight with Pia, dubbed Australia's most beautiful women and their blended family - his Evan and daughter Ellie with Lauren, and her two sons from a previous relationship, Isaiah, 21, and Lennox, 18.
The couple married in a private ceremony in May 2021 in LA, following their engagement in November 2020. The pair enjoyed a luxury but low-ley honeymoon in Mexico shortly after their union.
Patrick, the CEO of Hollywood talent agency WME, has clients including Ben Affleck, Christian Bale, Matt Damon, Michelle Williams, Idris Elba, Jake Gyllenhaal, Hugh Jackman, John Krasinski, Jude Law, Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington.
He had only just separated from Lauren when he was introduced to Pia by mutual friends in 2019.
At the time, Pia was trying her luck in Hollywood following a successful stint on Australian soap opera Home and Away while Pat was also throwing himself into work to distract himself from the headlines about Lauren and Jeff.
By early 2020, the pair were photographed together for the first time on a sun-soaked holiday in Malibu.
Later that year, Patrick proposed with an enormous emerald-cut diamond ring, with Pia declaring herself 'the luckiest girl in the world'.
They didn't waste time getting married, making things official in a private ceremony held in May 2021, not long after Pia had packed up her life in the Sydney to move across the world to live with Patrick, bringing her sons from previous relationships, Isaiah, 21, and Lennox, 18, with her.
More than three years later, the Whitesells remain blissfully happy, with a source telling Daily Mail Australia in 2024, 'Pat's having the last laugh, 100 per cent.
'He's living the f****** dream with Pia and he knows it. I doubt he thinks about Lauren or Jeff or that whole debacle at all.'
Sources close to both Lauren and Patrick say they are incredible co-parents who are raising amazing children together. Also, the same source has said that Pia and Lauren are friends who get along very well.
Patrick was the one who introduced his first wife to the billionaire she would eventually have an affair with.
While it's unclear when exactly they started seeing each other, Lauren and Jeff's romance was first exposed by the National Enquirer in January 2019 when they were both still married.
Soon after the affair made headlines, the billionaire divorced his wife of more than 25 years and the mother of his four children Mackenzie.
At the time, the bombshell report from the Enquirer claimed Lauren and Jeff had been involved in an eight-month affair, which included him sending her raunchy messages and erotic selfies, and having secret rendezvous at palatial private estates '.
The outlet said it had tracked them 'across five states and 40,000 miles, tailing them in private jets, swanky limos, helicopter rides, romantic hikes, five-star hotel hideaways, intimate dinner dates and "quality time" in hidden love nests'.
Following the Enquirer's accusations, Jeff fired back by writing a lengthy essay to the publication's CEO, David Pecker, in which the e-commerce mogul accused the company of blackmailing him.
'Rather than capitulate to extortion and blackmail, I've decided to publish exactly what they sent me, despite the personal cost and embarrassment they threaten,' he wrote.
'[After] intimate text messages from me were published in the National Enquirer, I engaged investigators to learn how those texts were obtained, and to determine the motives for the many unusual actions taken by the Enquirer.
'We were then approached with an offer. They said they had more of my text messages and photos that they would publish if we didn't stop our investigation.'
He shared alleged emails sent to him by Enquirer staffers, in which they described the racy images they had 'obtained during their newsgathering' in detail.
'If in my position I can't stand up to this kind of extortion, how many people can?' Jeff continued.
'Of course I don't want personal photos published, but I also won't participate in their well-known practice of blackmail, political favors, political attacks, and corruption. I prefer to stand up, roll this log over, and see what crawls out,' he added.
As for how Jeff and Lauren met, Lauren's husband Patrick was apparently the first to introduce the two at an Amazon Studios party for the movie Manchester by the Sea in 2016.
Her production team was then hired to film footage for Jeff's rocket company, Blue Origin, in 2018.
'Patrick and Lauren have socialised with Jeff Bezos and his wife for a few years, because both [former] couples have houses in Seattle,' a source told Page Six after their affair was brought to light.
'Then Lauren was hired to work on one of Jeff's projects, Blue Origin, a space-launch company. She has been shooting aerial shots for Jeff.'
After four years of lavish getaways, private jet rides, dinner dates at the most sought-after restaurants in the world, designer shopping trips, yacht rides, and invites to parties amongst the top stars, Jeff and Lauren became engaged in May 2023 and plan to wed in late June.