Latest news with #CharlizeTheronAfricaOutreachProject
Daily Mirror
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Charlize Theron leads stars slamming billionaire Jeff Bezos' 'gross' wedding
Charlize Theron and Rosie O'Donnell were some of the huge stars criticising Jeff Bezos' recent lavish wedding to Lauren Sanchez Charlize Theron was one of the many big names that took issue with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' lavish wedding to Lauren Sanchez in Venice last week. The billionaire and his new wife took three days out of their busy schedule to celebrate their wedding, which is believed to have cost close to £40million. While the couple celebrated their wedding, protestors gathered in Venice at Santa Lucia train station armed with banners that read "If you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can pay more tax." The demonstration is believed to have been organised by the No Space For Bezos group. A few members of the group were seen laden with Amazon boxes that had the words "ordered, shipped, delivered, rejected" written on them. The likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Oprah Winfrey and the Kardashians were at the celebrations. Not only did people on social media criticise the wedding, so did Hollywood celebrities like Charlize, Rosie O'Donnell and more. Charlize spoke about the nuptials while at the fifth annual block party for her charity, Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project and said she was okay with not getting an invitation. 'I think we might be the only people who did not get an invite to the Bezos wedding, but that's okay because they suck and we're cool,' the Oscar winner said. She went on to thanks people for coming to her charity event, "especially when the world feels like it's burning because it is.' "Here in Los Angeles, in the US and across the globe, we're moving backwards fast,' Charlize continued. "Immigration policy has destroyed the lives of families, not criminals; women's rights are becoming less and less every day; queer and trans lives are increasingly being erased; and gender-based violence is on the rise. "This isn't just policy, it's personal.' She ended her speech with three words aimed at Jeff: "Yeah, f**k them.' Rosie O'Donnell also criticised Jeff in the form of a poem shared on her Substack. 'It turned my stomach / Seeing all these billionaires / Gathering in the gross excess of it all / The show of it,' she wrote. 'Is Oprah friends with Jeff Bezos / Really - how is that possible / He treats his employees with disdain / By any metric he is not a nice man.' She then took aim at Lauren before hyping up his ex-wife MacKenzie Scott. "And his fake fem bot wife / Who looks like that / Why would he choose her / After the salt of the earth Mackenzie.' Tony nominee also praised MacKenzie as she noted the amount of money Jeff's ex-wife gave to charity. "How awesome is MacKenzie Scott! (Jeff Bezos's first wife & mother of his 4 children). "As of mid-December 2024, she had given a total of $19.3 billion to over 1600 charitable organizations."
The Citizen
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Citizen
Purpose over party: Charlize Theron slams Jeff Bezos‘ $50m wedding, claims many in SA dying
Charlize Theron threw shade at Jeff Bezos' wedding against a backdrop of global issues and claims of South Africans dying due to US aid cuts. Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos depart from the Aman hotel to attend the last party of their wedding celebrations in Venice on 28 June 2025. Actress Charlize Theron pictured at Block Party charity event in Los Angeles over the weekend. Pictures: EPA/ Daniel Aniel dal Zennaro and AFP Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron highlighted the importance of global issues over glamorous excess with a thinly veiled jab at Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez's wedding extravaganza in Venice over the weekend. Speaking at her fifth annual Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project (CTAOP) Block Party event in Los Angeles on Saturday, the South African-born star ripped into the A-list wedding guests, saying 'they suck'. 'I think we might be the only people who did not get an invite to the Bezos wedding. But that's OK because they suck and we're cool.' As the crowd applauded her remarks, the 49-year-old actress reportedly added: 'Yeah, f–k them'. Charlize Theron: Bold Bezos wedding statement at Block Party Theron's comment, though delivered with her signature wit, wasn't just a throwaway line. South African-American actress and film producer Charlize Theron arrives at the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project (CTAOP) Block Party 2025 held at the Universal Studios Backlot in Universal City, Los Angeles, California. Picture: Image Press Agency / NurPhoto via AFP According to Hollywood Reporter, the Old Guard 2 star quickly pivoted to a serious tone, thanking her guests for attending the CTAOP event 'especially when the world feels like it's burning, because it is'. Burning issues: 'It's personal' – Theron She emphasised pressing global issues, stating: 'Here in Los Angeles, in the US and across the globe, we're moving backwards fast. 'Immigration policy has destroyed the lives of families, not criminals; women's rights are becoming less and less every day; queer and trans lives are increasingly being erased; and gender-based violence is on the rise. 'This isn't just policy, it's personal.' Trump's foreign aid cuts According to Variety, the Academy Award winner claimed many people in South Africa have 'already' died without US aid. Although she didn't mention US President Donald Trump by name, the actress appeared to reference efforts by him and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to cut foreign aid spending through United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funds. 'Foreign aid cuts brought HIV and Aids programmes in my home country of South Africa to an absolute standstill. All of this is not just detrimental, it's dangerous,' Theorn told Variety's Mark Malkin at the charity event. 'People will lose their lives. Many have already, unfortunately, and at a frightening rate. It's absolutely heartbreaking to see this kind of unnecessary suffering.' Charlize Theron's Block Party: Focus on impact The CTAOP Block Party, held to raise funds for Theron's nonprofit organisation, featured a performance by Reneé Rapp and a live 'Hot Ones' segment with Theron and her Old Guard 2 co-star KiKi Layne. By juxtaposing her fundraiser with the Bezos wedding, the charity event underscored Theron's deep-rooted commitment to advocacy over Hollywood glitz and glamour. Bezos $50m wedding vs CTAOP's mission The extravagance of the 61-year-old Amazon founder's $50-million (about R889.4 million) Venice wedding celebrations, is in stark contrast to the CTAOP's mission to support youth health and safety in South Africa. Charlize Theron poses with British actor David Oyelowo and his wife British actress, Jessica Oyelowo, as they attend the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project 2025 Block Party at Universal Studios backlot in North Hollywood, California on 28 June 2025. Picture: Unique Nicol/ AFP Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez's wedding bash Bezos and Lauren Sánchez, a former TV journalist and helicopter pilot, tied the knot on Friday, 27 June in a lavish three-day celebration in Venice. With a net worth estimated by Forbes to be $226.7 billion, the executive chair of the e-commerce giant is rumoured to have spent a staggering $50-million for the wedding, The event boasted a star-studded guest list of more than 200, including A-listers like Oprah Winfrey, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kim and Khloé Kardashian, Kris Jenner, Tom Brady and Orlando Bloom. Held on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, the wedding featured a custom Dolce & Gabbana wedding gown for Sánchez, a performance by Matteo Bocelli and over-the-top festivities, including a welcoming party at the Chiostro Madonna dell'Orto and a final celebration at the Arsenale, a former medieval shipyard. Charlize Theron's remarks spark cheers and controversy Theron's remarks sparked a mix of reactions on social media with some supporters praising her for calling out the disconnect between celebrity excess and global crises such as immigration and gender-based violence. One X user commented: 'Charlize is out here speaking truth while the A-listers sip champagne in Venice.' Others, however, dismissed her comments as a sign of envy: 'Theron shouldn't worry. She can go to his next wedding.' Bezos-Sanchez wedding: Venice mass protests Venice itself was divided over the wedding. While city officials welcomed the economic boost, with 80% of provisions sourced from local vendors like Rosa Salva and Laguna B, many residents felt the event epitomized overtourism and inequality. As per Page Six, the 'No Space for Bezos' campaign group threatened to clog canals with inflatable crocodiles, and posters featuring Bezos' head on a rocket appeared across the city. Last week, Greenpeace Italy unfurled a banner in St Mark's Square reading: 'If you can rent Venice for your wedding you can pay more tax,' while a dummy of Bezos was tossed into the Grand Canal, clutching an oversized Amazon package.
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Charlize Theron speaks out on immigration policies that have ‘destroyed the lives of families, not criminals'
Charlize Theron, a naturalized US citizen, spoke out about changing policies in the country she has made her home. At her annual Africa Outreach Project Block Party over the weekend, Theron thanked attendees for 'taking the time to be a part of this, especially when the world feels like it's burning because it is.' 'Here in Los Angeles, in the US and across the globe, we're moving backwards fast. Immigration policy has destroyed the lives of families, not criminals; women's rights are becoming less and less every day; queer and trans lives are increasingly being erased; and gender-based violence is on the rise,' Theron said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The issue of immigration is very personal to the star, who immigrated from South Africa to the United States and became a US citizen in 2007. Her block party is held to raise funds to help youth in Africa. Theron spoke out against US aid 'cuts [that] have brought HIV and AIDS programs in my home country of South Africa to an absolute standstill.' 'All of this is not just detrimental, it's dangerous; people will lose their lives — many have already, unfortunately, and at a frightening rate,' she said. 'It's absolutely heartbreaking to see this kind of unnecessary suffering.' 'But what we also see, what we cannot miss, is the resistance. There is hope,' Theron added. 'There is power in all of us standing up, organizing, protesting, voting, and caring for each other, and refusing to accept that this is the new normal.' The event is part of the star's nonprofit the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project.
Fox News
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Charlize Theron takes dig at Bezos wedding while Mia Farrow celebrates his charitable ex-wife
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos became husband and wife over the weekend with a host of celebrity friends witnessing their vows in Venice, Italy. The Amazon billionaire and former journalist tied the knot in grand fashion, hosting a whirlwind three-day affair complete with a lavish welcome party, wedding and black-tie ceremony on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. While the newlyweds celebrated overseas with their friends and family, Hollywood stars at home hit back at the nuptials in subtle – and not-so-subtle – ways. Charlize Theron took aim at the Bezos event on Saturday while hosting the fifth annual Block Party for her Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project on the Universal Studios backlot. Before diving into immigration policy issues, the Oscar-winner slammed the Bezos bash and its attendees. "I think we might be the only people who did not get an invite to the Bezos wedding," Theron told the crowd, per The Hollywood Reporter. "But that's OK because they suck, and we're cool." Mia Farrow shared an image of Jeff's ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, on Jeff's wedding day, and praised the billionaire for her charitable efforts. "How awesome is MacKenzie Scott! (Jeff Bezos first wife & mother of his 4 children)," Farrow captioned a post featuring Scott. "As of mid-December 2024, she had given a total of $19.3 billion to over 1600 charitable organizations." More than 20,000 people "liked" Farrow's post, including a handful of high-profile stars. "Truly incredible," Olivia Munn wrote. Rosanna Arquette commented, "She's a force of humanity and good." Scott, 55, and Jeff, 61, met in 1992 as coworkers and married one year later. The couple announced their separation in January 2019 after 25 years of marriage. "If we had known we would separate after 25 years, we would do it all again," they wrote in a Jan. 9, 2019, post on X (then Twitter). "We've had such a great life together as a married couple, and we also see wonderful futures ahead as parents, friends, partners in ventures and projects, and as individuals pursuing ventures and adventures." Jeff didn't have a prenup with Scott, and the separation left her with a 4% stake in the online shopping giant, or around $36 billion at the time. The former couple have four children together. When the marriage ended, they shared transparent posts about their settlement online. "Grateful to have finished the process of dissolving my marriage with Jeff with support from each other and everyone who reached out to us in kindness, and looking forward to next phase as co-parents and friends," Scott wrote. "Happy to be giving him all of my interests in the Washington Post, Blue Origin, and 75 [percent] of our Amazon stock plus voting control of my shares to support his continued contributions with the teams of these incredible companies. Excited about my own plans. Grateful for the past as I look forward to what comes next." Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos were married Friday, June 27, on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore with a number of celebrities invited to attend their black-tie ceremony. Orlando Bloom, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Tom Brady and Sydney Sweeney were just a few of the A-listers in town for the Amazon founder's wedding.
Buzz Feed
21 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Charlize Theron Joked About Celebs At Jeff Bezos's Wedding
Last week, celebrities from all corners of the industry flocked over to Italy to watch Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos tie the knot in Venice. On the star-studded guest list, we had A-list actors, singers, models, sports stars, entrepreneurs, media moguls, and the whole Kardashian/Jenner clan (minus Kourtney), all of whom were dressed to the nines as they stepped out across several days of extravagant celebrations. But, away from the glitz and glam of it all, there has been a lot of negative chatter surrounding the wedding, particularly about the intense pushback from the Venetian locals and environmental groups, who protested the wedding, citing over-tourism concerns. Jeff and Lauren pledged to donate to three Venetian charities to help safeguard the city's cultural heritage and support its residents. 'This magical place has gifted us unforgettable memories,' the couple wrote in a note to guests, which was obtained by ABC. 'Our hope is that through these efforts and by you joining us, Venice will continue to inspire wonder for generations to come.' In light of all this, and the general skepticism towards billionaires (particularly those with ties to Donald Trump), there were some raised eyebrows in the direction of the celebs who attended the wedding festivities, which Forbes estimates may have cost around $25 million. But, someone who wasn't at the wedding was Charlize Theron. And while speaking at the fifth annual Block Party for her Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project on Saturday night, the Oscar-winner made an interesting — and maybe slightly shady — remark about the number of her A-list peers celebrating with the Bezoses in Italy. Kicking off the charity event, Charlize reportedly deadpanned on stage: 'I think we might be the only people who did not get an invite to the Bezos wedding. But that's OK because they suck and we're cool.' Of course, it's hard to know whether she was being serious or merely making a topical joke, but either way, I'm sure plenty of people would agree with the sentiment. LMK your thoughts in the comments.
