A three-day wedding in Venice, a potential spread in Vogue, and a jam-packed guest list. In any other case, this might be the chicest wedding of the decade. But Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s nuptials this week are already proving pretty controversial.
The tech billionaire, currently the 4th richest man in the world, has ruffled feathers by deciding to wed in the Italian lagoon city, which is sinking at a rate of one to two millimetres a year, exacerbated by rising sea levels. Oxfam has previously estimated that it would take an average person 207 years to emit as much carbon as Jeff Bezos does in 12 months — and that’s only counting the impact of his private jet.
There’s also a political element to the 61-year-old’s wedding. Donald Trump is rumoured to have been invited, which would cement the growing bond between Bezos and the right-wing populist President of the United States. Back in America, Donald Trump is still facing criticism for his deportations of migrants to countries that aren’t their homeland. Amazon has previously been linked to the American immigration service, ICE, and accused of helping their operations.
And let’s not forget the controversy of his courtship with the 55-year-old former TV journalist. Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez were found to be romantically involved while both still married to their previous partners, Mackenzie Scott and Patrick Whitesell. When their affair was exposed in 2019, it came with a series of embarrassing sexts and alleged nude pictures.
So they’re not exactly America’s sweethearts, nor Venice’s. But there will be some people looking on fondly as the pair tie the knot: their close, personal, powerful friends, who will be arriving for the three-day affair as we speak.
Fashion designer Diane Von Furstenberg has already arrived in Venice, with the 78-year-old spotted arriving at Venice Marco Polo airport this afternoon.
She’ll be joined by fellow guest, former reality star and Skims founder Kim Kardashian, who has become close with Sánchez over the past few years and recently attended her bachelorette party in Paris. “Lauren and I are always sending DMs building each other up,” Kardashian has previously told Vogue of their friendship. “Every time there’s a look that we like, she’ll say, ‘WOW,’ or, ‘OMG you look amazing.’ She’s such a girl’s girl.”
Kardashian’s mother, Kris Jenner, is also close with Sánchez, and her partner Corey Gamble is expected to attend the Bezos-Sánchez wedding as her plus one. “You are an amazing mom, fiancé, sister, daughter, and girlfriend, and I am so blessed to have you and Jeff in our lives,” Kris Jenner wrote on Instagram for Sánchez’s birthday last year. “We have made the most delicious memories together and I can’t wait to make more!”
According to reports, the entertainment for the wedding is pretty impressive, with Elton John and Lady Gaga allegedly scheduled to perform. “Lauren wanted some big talent to sing for them and it just doesn't get any bigger than Gaga and Elton,” a source told the Daily Mail.
“It also helps that Gaga and Elton are good friends and were happy to do it together, which is cool. It will be like a mini vacation for the besties.” However, reps for Lady Gaga and Elton John have denied the stars will be performing at the wedding, despite repeated reports.
Other high-profile A-listers set to attend are Fantastic Four actress Jessica Alba, who has been friends with Sánchez for years, since before her relationship with Bezos, and Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria, who also attended the bachelorette party.
Longoria and Sánchez bonded over their position as Latina women who have worked in the entertainment industry. Speaking in a joint interview for The Hollywood Reporter, Longoria said of their friendship: “You and I constantly have these conversations that inspire each other. Instead of sending each other memes, we send [reports] about the Latin community not being represented in TV and movies and the media.”
“I know, we send each other white papers,” Sánchez responded. “I'll send you a study, and you'll text back, “I already read it.’ You and I both have this huge commitment to empowering underrepresented communities, especially Latinas.”
However, there may be one very famous face absent from the wedding proceedings. Katy Perry, Sánchez’s “space sister” who accompanied her on the all-female Blue Origin flight to space this April, is due to perform in Australia on June 26, the first day of the wedding celebrations. Outlets have reported that her partner Orlando Bloom will be attending alone. But knowing Bezos’s fondness for private jets and Katy Perry’s obsession with being airborne, she could well zip back to Europe after her performance.
However, she will have one space sister, with presenter Gayle King expected to attend, as well as TV royalty Oprah Winfrey.
TMZ have also reported that Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner have made the list, as well as Karlie Kloss and her husband Joshua Kushner. Donald Trump Jr. and his new girlfriend Bettina Anderson — who Lauren is close friends with — are also set to attend, according to Page Six.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump himself has been floated as a guest, and the POTUS will be in Europe during the correct time period due to the NATO summit in the Netherlands from June 24 to June 26.
Then there are the rumoured celebrity guests who attended the pair’s engagement party but aren’t quite confirmed: these include Leonardo DiCaprio, who also has a noted interest in space travel, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.
As for the other tech bros: billionaire Bill Gates and CEO of TKO Group Holdings Ari Emanuel were also present for the couple's engagement party, promoting suspicion that they will attend the wedding. There’s a big fat question mark around Elon Musk following his fallout with Donald Trump and notable step back from public life, prompting an article from Politico entitled “Why has Elon Musk disappeared from the spotlight?” Musk and Bezos once had a long documented rivalry but appeared to become cordial, united by their fondness for Trump, around January 2025. It’s unknown whether he will have snagged an invite.
