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'No space for Bezos': Locals protest as Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez descend on Venice for extravagant three-day wedding
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez are preparing to tie the knot in what's being touted as the "wedding of the century", but not everyone is celebrating.
The billionaire tech mogul, 61, and his fiancée, 55, are set to host a glitzy three-day ceremony in Venice from Tuesday to Thursday, with the festivities expected to bring parts of the historic city to a standstill.
Plans for the opulent event have largely been kept under wraps, but reports suggest no expense has been spared since the world's second richest man popped the question in May 2023 with a jaw-dropping 30-carat diamond ring.
The pair will reportedly host their guests at the ultra-exclusive Aman Hotel, the same venue George and Amal Clooney used for their 2014 nuptials, and have also booked out rooms at the Gritti Palace, St. Regis, Belmond Cipriani and Hotel Danieli.
But while celebrity guests like Oprah Winfrey, Ivanka Trump, Katy Perry, Eva Longoria, Gayle King and members of the Kardashian clan are expected to attend, many Venetians are pushing back.
A local protest group calling itself "No Space for Bezos", a nod to the tech billionaire's Blue Origin space venture, has launched a vocal campaign against the wedding, plastering the city with banners and posters taking aim at the Amazon founder's presence.
"Venice is being treated like a showcase, a stage," protest organiser Federica Toninelli told the BBC.
"And this wedding is the symbol of the exploitation of the city by outsiders… Venice is now just an asset."
Toninelli, 33, said the group brings together a range of activist collectives, from housing campaigners to anti-cruise ship advocates.
"These topics are all linked," she said.
"They all have to do with Venice turning into a place that puts tourists, rather than residents, at the centre of its politics."
On Thursday, protesters scaled the bell tower of the San Giorgio Maggiore basilica and unfurled a banner, while another was draped over the Rialto Bridge.
This week, the group plans to block Venice's calli (its narrow alleyways) and disrupt water taxis by jumping into the canals to obstruct guests from reaching the event.
Joining the local activists are Greenpeace and UK-based collective 'Everyone Hates Elon', a group that takes aim at the world's richest man, Elon Musk.
On Monday, the two organisations unveiled a massive banner in St. Mark's Square that read: "If you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can pay more tax."
"Jeff Bezos is the second-richest man in the world yet is reported to pay a 1.1% true tax rate," the groups said in a joint statement, as per Variety.
"The multi-million-dollar wedding is reportedly happening over three days, with the wedding ring alone worth as much as $5 million."
Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro has condemned the demonstrations, saying he hopes the Amazon founder and his former TV journalist fiancée go ahead with the wedding regardless of the backlash.
"We will have to apologise to Bezos," Brugnaro told reporters on Friday.
"I am ashamed of those who behave like this. I hope that Bezos comes anyway," he said, adding that "not all Venetians think like these protesters."
If the Bezos' nuptials go ahead as planned, they'll mark Venice's most high-profile celebrity wedding in over a decade.
Though the couple has yet to publicly comment on the event, Sánchez's older brother Paul told TMZ in March: "It's gonna be like a Princess Di thing.
"It's gonna be an amazing event. It's gonna be star-studded and fun."
