Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sánchez Venice The marriage invites protests: NPR

Activists from Venice, Italy, protest against the next marriage to the technological billionaire Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sánchez, while the extreme extravagance reports of the event divide the city.

Bezos – The founder of Amazon and Washington Post The owner – is one of the richest men in the world, with a net value estimated at 231 billion dollars according to the Bloomberg billionaire index. Him and Sánchez – A former presenter of news and approved pilot – committed themselves in 2023, four years after making their relationship public.

Since then, their wedding has been the subject of intense speculation and secrets.

After her return from the brief – and widely swept space – she organized on one of Bezos’ blue Rockets in April, Sánchez joked that she had to come back safely for her wedding, otherwise “it would be a disappointment for me.”

Sánchez’s brother Paul compared him to Prince Charles’ royal marriage of 1981 and Lady Diana Spencer, saying to TMZ in March: “I think it’s going to be a princess thing.

Although precise details on marriage remain under the Wraps, the Italian media and the world report of Newswires will be held in Venice at the end of June. Reports from a case of several million dollars of several million dollars – are expected to attract hundreds of celebrants to a city of fragile lagoon already struggling with Suntourism – has aroused concerns in Italy.

In March, the city of Venice denied media reports that the wedding organizers had reserved a large number of gondolas and water taxis for the event, which had fueled the fears of disturbances for tourists and the premises that use them for daily transport.

Venetian officials said there are only 200 guests, an easily welcomed number for a city accustomed to the organization of all kinds of political heights, cultural events and VIP weddings (including George and Amal Clooney in 2014).

“We work each other and support the organizers, to ensure that the event will be absolutely respectful of the fragility and uniqueness of the city,” said Mayor Luigi Brugnaro, according to the Associated Press.

But that did not prevent the demonstrators from making their disapproval known. Activists stimulating under the movement “No Space for Bezos” – nodding the spatial activities of couples – challenged what they call the privatization of their city and the perceived prioritization of the local tourism government on the needs of its residents.

Throughout the month, the demonstrators hung posters and anti-bezos banners in various places across the city, including the bell tower of the San Giorgio Maggiore basilica and the famous Rialto bridge. Monday, militants of Greenpeace Italy and the British group “everyone hates Elon [Musk]”has joined the action, reports Reuters.

They hung a banner on Saint-Marc square, with a photo of Bezos laughing and the words: “If you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can pay more taxes.”

Lanza & Baucina Limited, the organizers of the wedding of Bezos-Sánchez, published a rare declaration seeking to set the record straight on “The rumors of” Take “the city,” calling them “completely false and diametrically opposed to our objectives and reality”.

He said that “no exaggerated quantity” of water taxis or gondolas has been reserved, and the number of taxis reserved is “proportionate to the number of guests”.

“From the start, our client’s instructions and our own guiding principles were clearly clear: the minimization of any disturbance for the city, respect for its residents and institutions and the overwhelming employment of premises in the development of events,” the company told NPR on Monday in a statement.

When asked for comments, a spokesperson for Amazon referred to NPR to the declaration of the organizers.

Here is what we know elsewhere – and still do not do it – about marriage and demonstrations against it.

Lauren Sánchez and Jeff Bezos, illustrated at the Oscar Vanity Fair 2025 party in March, have been hired since 2023.

Taylor Hill / FilmMagic

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Taylor Hill / FilmMagic

Where and when is marriage?

Most reports indicate that marriage celebrations will extend three days, but the exact dates vary.

Reuters and others say that the window is probably from June 26 to 28, while the AP – citing the Italian media – previously pointed out that it could be from June 24 to 26.

There have been just as contradictory reports on the rental of the ceremony.

A spokesperson for Brugnaro, the mayor of Venice, told CNN in March that it would take place on the Superyacht of 417 feet of Bezos, the Koru. The ship has already made the headlines: in 2022, the Dutch city of Rotterdam planned to temporarily dismantle a historic bridge to allow the Koru to leave the shipyard where it was built – but reversed the course after the residents protested, in particular by threatening the egg.

But other points of sale, including CNN and The Hollywood ReporterNote that the couple can get married on the private island of San Giorgio Maggiore, in particular in a monastery there.

According to Euronews, activists “no space for Bezos”, say that marriage is supposed to take place in the scuola Grande Della Misericordia of the 14th century, a place that has become an event, according to Euronews and CNN. The demonstrators hope that this will not happen.

“Bezos will never reach the Misericordia,” organizer Federica Toninello told supporters during a demonstration earlier this month, according to CNN. “We are going to block the channels, line the streets with our body, block the canals with inflatables, canoes, boats.”

Why do people protest?

Residents opposed to marriage festivities have multiple concerns, ranging from logistical disturbances to environmental impacts of a sudden influx of yachts and private jets.

“Bezos will mainly treat the whole city as a private ballroom, like a private event area, as if the citizens were not there,” Alice Bazzoli demonstration told Sky News.

The island city actively flows due to the increase in sea level and mass tourism. In an effort to brake the latter, it now requires excursionus over 14 to pay a daily tax on certain days (5 or 10 euros depending on the calendar) to visit its historic city center of 2.5 miles square.

The massive influx of tourists has worsened the housing crisis, as many residential buildings have been converted into short -term rentals, and have led to a decrease in the population because many residents are trying their luck elsewhere.

It is in this backdrop that Bezos and Sánchez arrive for their marriage, which, according to the regional governor, said that the regional governor said that the equivalent of 23 to 34 million dollars. While Zaia says that it will give an essential boost to the local economy, people protest against the event worrying not to personally suffer the advantages of this money.

“Venice (like everywhere) needs public services and housing, no VIP and over-tourism,” said Greenpeace UK on Bluesky. “It’s time for #taxthesuperrich and making them pay for the destruction they cause – the world is not their playground.”

The demonstrators displayed posters and anti-j-jet banners in Venice, where the technological billionaire should marry journalist Lauren Sánchez at the end of June.

Andrea Pattaro / AFP via Getty Images

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Andrea Pattaro / AFP via Getty Images

What was the answer to protests?

The mayor of Venice, Brugnaro, told journalists on Friday that he was ashamed of the demonstrators, saying “we will have to apologize to Bezos”.

“I hope Bezos arrives anyway,” he said. “Not all Venetians think like these demonstrators.”

The wedding organizers, Lanza & Baucina Limited, declared in their declaration that, before the demonstrations have fun, it “worked so that there was a negative impact or a negative disturbance of the life of the Venetians and visitors to the city”.

“We have always recognized the broader debate and the critical problems surrounding the future of the city, and from the start, our client was honored to support the city and its very important lagoon through non -profit organizations and associated projects,” added the company.

Bezos has brought great contributions to Venetian charities in the wedding period, including a donation to Million-Euro in Corila, an academic consortium that studies the Venice lagoon ecosystem, reports Reuters. According to the AP, Corila confirmed during the weekend that the Bezos’s Earth Fund had made an “important gift” in April, long before the start of the demonstrations.

The AP reports that at least two historic Venetian companies will contribute to the festivities: Rosa Salva, the oldest pastry in the city, and Laguna B, a design studio famous for its distinctive and hand -made glassware.

Antonio Rosa Salva, the 6th generation of his family to direct the bakery, said that he would provide a selection of treats for the Goody guest bags – and will welcome the honor.

“I do not see how an event with 200 people can create disturbances,” he told AP. “It is prestigious that a couple like this, who can go anywhere in the world, get married in the city.”