Iran-Israel War or Crocodiles, what made Jeff Bezos-Lauren Sanchez change marriage venue
Amazon multi-billionaire founder Jeff Bezos, right, and Lauren Sanchez leave a hotel in Venice, Italy, on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, ahead of festivities in the lagoon city reportedly linked to their wedding. (AP Photo/Luigi Costantini)
Campaigners in Venice are celebrating a partial victory after forcing billionaire Jeff Bezos to relocate his lavish wedding celebrations from the historic Scuola Grande della Misericordia to the fortified Arsenale complex, as guests began arriving on Tuesday for a three-day extravaganza. The wedding of Bezos, Amazon's founder, and former TV journalist Lauren Sánchez was initially set to take place in the majestic 16th-century Scuola Grande della Misericordia in the heart of Venice. However, the activist group
No Space for Bezos
threatened to disrupt the event by filling the city's iconic canals with inflatable crocodiles to block access for high-profile guests, prompting the venue change.
According to local reports, the switch to the Arsenale—a historic shipyard complex surrounded by fortified walls—was also driven by heightened security concerns following the U.S.'s involvement in the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict. Among the 200 expected guests, who may include Elon Musk, Kim Kardashian, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Ivanka Trump, security has been a top priority. Authorities have bolstered protection across Venice, particularly in the Jewish quarter, following Ivanka Trump's arrival on Tuesday.
The wedding festivities are believed to begin Thursday, with Bezos and Sánchez exchanging vows on Friday at the San Giorgio Maggiore basilica on its namesake island. The main reception, now at the Arsenale, is slated for Saturday. An estimated 95 private jets are expected to land at Venice's airport to ferry in the elite guest list.
The No Space for Bezos campaign, which emerged after Venice's millionaire mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, confirmed the wedding plans in March, argues that such events exacerbate the city's struggles with overtourism, risking its status as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Instead of further disrupting the wedding, activists plan to hold a 'No Bezos, No War' march to protest both the event and global conflicts.
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'We've scored a small but significant victory,' said an anonymous activist. 'The crocodile protest would've tarnished Venice's image, but it pushed them to move the event. They'll say it's about the war, but we know our pressure made a difference.'
City officials have yet to comment officially on the venue change, but the heightened security and logistical shifts underscore the challenges of hosting such a high-profile event in a city already strained by tourism and global attention.
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