Hollywood actress slams Jeff Bezos' star-studded wedding in brutal speech
Jeff Bezos married former award-winning journalist Lauren Sanchez this weekend – and it looked like the wedding of the year, with what seemed like half of Hollywood in attendance.
However, Charlize Theron didn't hold back at her own charity bash when she jokingly dunked on not being invited to Bezos and Sánchez's three‑day £40million Venice celebrations.
The actress quipped: 'I think we might be the only people who did not get an invite to the Bezos wedding.'
After giggles and applause from the audience, with a deadpan expression, she added: 'But that's OK, because they suck and we're cool.'
This was Theron's fifth annual Block Party for her Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project in Los Angeles.
Many have praised her for using her platform and voice to spotlight global crises and make a change.
And after her punchline caused the crowd to erupt with laughter, her tone quickly shifted to the reason for the event, dealing with global issues.
She raised the point that backwards shifts in immigration policies, gender-based violence, and LGBTQ+ rights are personal crises that need to be addressed and supported.
Theron went on to say that new immigration policies have 'destroyed the lives of families, not criminals'.
She also recognised the light that needs to be shed on helping those struggling with the erosion of trans and queer existence.
South African-born Theron further noted that cuts to foreign aid have crippled HIV and AIDS in her homeland, which could cause people to 'lose their lives'.
Despite not naming the Trump administration directly, she emphasised how 'we're moving backwards, fast.'
Her remarks about the lavish wedding resonated with many people on social media as she urged celebrities to use their influence for activism and world change.
Theron's charity event famously overlapped with the Bezos affair, with the Amazon boss tying the knot on San Giorgio Maggiore island.
The guest list was truly dazzling, with the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Brady, Orlando Bloom, Oprah Winfrey, and Ivanka Trump just a handful of the star-studded entourage.
Roughly 200 high-profile guests were in attendance, from Bill Gates to Kim Kardashian.
It wasn't all smooth sailing, though, as a few guests showed up uninvited when protests greeted the Italian ceremony—Greenpeace and other groups rocked up to the wealthy event and accused Bezos of flaunting his money and evading taxes.
There was even a Greenpeace banner in St Mark's Square that read: 'If you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can pay more tax'—a clear dig at the billionaire couple.
Critics argue that the extravagant celebration created too much tourism, which potentially posed a threat to the lives of locals.
The Mayor of Venice was not angry, though, and actually defended the couple by stressing that love is universal, and the city officials appreciated the donations made by Bezos and Sanchez. More Trending
To avoid any trouble, the newlyweds donated £1million each to three separate environmental organisations and pledged that they would not accept gifts.
Bezos proposed to Sanchez in May 2023 – of course, it was on a yacht in the South of France.
The businessman was previously married to MacKenzie Scott, with whom he shares four children.
Sanchez wore a mermaid-style Dolce & Gabbana dress for her special day, with a layer of handmade lace, not forgetting the floor-length veil.
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NBC News
2 hours ago
- NBC News
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez's wedding guest list: Everyone who attended in Venice
The wedding of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sánchez was a star-studded affair in Venice, Italy. Approximately 200 guests attended the wedding, which was celebrated over the course of three days across multiple venues, starting with a rehearsal dinner on June 26. The details of the ceremony were kept secret before the big day, but Sánchez confirmed they were officially married Saturday, June 27, by posting a photo to Instagram, featuring her white Dolce & Gabbana wedding gown. On Saturday, June 28, the newlyweds hosted a pajama-themed party, and guests were photographed decked out in a variety outfits, from Usher's navy robe to Leonardo DiCaprio's burgundy set. Bezos and Sánchez got engaged in 2023. When speaking to Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb on "TODAY" in November 2024, the bride-to-be spoke on the excitement leading up to the big day. 'Thinking about the dress, I have to say. I do have a Pinterest, I'm just like every other bride,' Sánchez said as she laughed alongside Savannah and Hoda. Here's a list of gusts spotted for the Italian wedding. Kim and Khloé Kardashian The Kardashian sisters were first spotted on Thursday, June 26. Kim Kardashian wore an all-black outfit, while Khloé Kardashian wore a cheetah print one-piece paired with an open-toe heel. The two previously attended a Beyoncé Renaissance Tour concert in Los Angeles with Bezos and Sánchez. Kim Kardashian took to Instagram to post some pre-wedding activities, including some sightseeing of the city. Orlando Bloom The actor was spotted in Venice in all-white casual wear, topped off with a black cap for the sunny weather. The actor was later seen holding up a peace sign as he entered a taxi boat with a guest in another all-white attire — this time, in a collared shirt. Tom Brady Legendary quarterback Tom Brady was seen boarding a taxi boat in a black sweatsuit paired with a white hat. Kris Jenner Kris Jenner put on a smile at Venice Marco Polo airport while wearing a black top and sunglasses, finished with an emerald green necklace. In May, Jenner attended Sánchez's bachelorette party held in Paris, France. She's seen in the photo of Sánchez Instagram post with the Eiffel Tower in the background. The mother of six was also seen later with her longtime boyfriend Corey Gamble in a matching all-black look, including black sunglasses. Oprah Winfrey Winfrey was photographed in Venice wearing a white top, brown sunglasses and a black headband, waiting for her taxi boat. Winfrey was spotted later in the day wearing a white and purple cut out dress as she put on a smile. , who went to space with Sánchez on the all-female Blue Origin flight she organized. Jessica Alba The actor shared on Instagram photos of her outfit, including a cameo from her daughter Honor, 17. The actor wore a green dress by Zuhair Murad paired with Chanel heels. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were photographed amid the festivities. The couple had previously been spotted in Venice along with their three children, enjoying family time and fun activities in the city. The POTUS' daughter took to Instagram to share a glimpse of her family's trip. Diane von Furstenberg The fashion designer posted a snap of her relaxing in Venice before the big three-day event. On Instagram, she called the city 'the ultimate Woman !!!' Charissa Thompson The Fox News sports commentator has spent some time around Europe but was in Venice for the big celebration. Thompson, who was pictured in Sánchez's bridal party, shared her sightseeing adventures on Instagram, including a photo of San Giorgio Maggiore island. Veronica Grazer The entrepreneur and her husband Brian Grazer arrived in Venice on June 26. The bridesmaid wore a green and yellow print button-up top as her husband sported a Supreme camouflage backpack. Gayle King The CBS journalist was seen in green cargo pants as she boarded a taxi boat with Winfrey. King accompanied Sánchez on the Blue Origin flight, which she called an 'adventure of a lifetime' on Instagram. Queen Rania of Jordan The royal had a helping hand as she stepped in a taxi boat in Venice. She was seen wearing a chic all-black outfit, paired with a black purse with gold detailing. Kendall and Kylie Jenner The two Jenner sisters were spotted wearing colorful dresses in Venice, as the rest of their family were spotted earlier in the day. Leonardo DiCaprio The Oscar-winning actor was visible beneath the black baseball cap he wore to obscure his face. Vittoria Ceretti The Italian model was seen wearing an elegant gray maxi dress as she received help to board her taxi boat. Ceretti discussed her relationship with DiCaprio to Vogue France in the past, where she revealed that they met in Milan. Domenico Dolce Italian designer Domenico Dolce of Dolce & Gabbana was seen mingling with guests in an all-black look. Jewel Singer Jewel shared her outfit, along with a mirror selfie, to Instagram. 'What a wonderful three days celebrating love in the most poetic city ... wearing my favorite @dolcegabanna. Congratulations @jeffbezos and @laurensanchezbezos,' Jewel wrote on Instagram. Stefano Gabbana Gabbano, the Italian designer and co-founder of Dolce & Gabbana, was seen in an all-black look with a white belt, stepping foot into a taxi boat. Sydney Sweeney The 'Euphoria' actor wore all black, topped with matching black sunglasses and purse, in her first photos from Venice. Tommy Hilfiger The fashion designer was seen sporting a Yankees hat on a stroll in Venice. Usher The singer and his wife Jennifer Goicoechea was spotted taking a candid photo on a taxi boat ahead of the wedding. Karlie Kloss and Joshua Kushner The model and her husband were photographed in formal wear Friday, June 27, as they arrived to the Bezos-Sánchez wedding in Venice. On Saturday, June 28, Kloss and Sweeney were photographed walking the streets of Venice together. Sara Foster The actor and model shared moments of her and her friends throughout the wedding. 'Breaking news: Two people in love got married and their friends showed up,' Foster captioned the post with bride and groom emojis. Ellie Goulding British singer Ellie Goulding was spotted in a taxi boat with model sisters Sarah Jane and Brooks Nader during the three-day festivity.
The Guardian
5 hours ago
- The Guardian
‘They came for our land, our wood, our gold': Santiago Yahuarcani, Peruvian painter of dancing dolphins
Santiago Yahuarcani's Amazon is no longer the place he painted as a child. The rainforest scenes of parrots, anacondas and jaguars that he and his brothers used to sell to riverboat tourists for a dollar apiece have given way to visions of a landscape that is darker, more despoiled and more desperate than it was six decades ago. However, as his first solo international exhibition – at the Whitworth in Manchester – will show, the old beauties and mysteries have not faded completely. His work is populated by shape-shifting spirits, mermaids waltzing with pink river dolphins, enormous pipe-smoking lizards and shamans who trap their adversaries in rum bottles, but they exist alongside depictions of the genocidal crimes of the past and the ecocidal crimes of the present. Oil refineries are consumed by fire, rubber trees weep tears of sap, forest spirits are displaced by drought, and memories of a century-old slaughter – replete with torn and branded flesh – echo through the forest and down the generations. 'When I was a child, there was a huge abundance of animals and fish in the Amazon,' says the 65-year-old Indigenous Peruvian painter, when we meet in Madrid, at a joint exhibition of work by him and his partner Nereyda López. 'There was a lot of land to make into farmsteads and there were a lot of animals to hunt. But people have come and taken land – hectares of land, kilometres of land – and they've come for the wood and the gold, too.' The artist and his family are all too aware of what happens when the Amazon attracts the greedy gaze of the outside world. Today, they are the last 12 members of the White Heron clan of the Uitoto nation still living in Peru. Just over a century ago, Yahuarcani's grandfather, then 16, was forced from Colombia to Peru during the genocide that was waged against the Indigenous population of the Putumayo region during the rubber boom. The painter was five or six when he learned what had happened at La Chorrera rubber station. 'My grandfather would call us together at night and tell us about the era of rubber,' he says. 'He told us how the bosses arrived with rifles and started to force the Indigenous people to collect the sap of trees for rubber. They demanded 50kg of sap from each person every two to three weeks. They gave them the materials they needed to get the sap and they gave them food, but not enough food.' Anyone coming back with less than 50kg was punished. Some were thrown into a hole 15 metres deep. Others had an ear hacked off. 'There was also a guy, my grandfather told me, who'd make everyone watch as he cut off a lump of your flesh with a knife. They wanted to scare people so they'd get their 50 kilos.' Then came the time when the bosses decided to plant sugar cane, coffee and corn for the women to harvest. 'These women worked with their babies on their backs,' says Yahuarcani. 'One baby started to cry because of the heat of the sun. The overseers came and took the little boy from his mother's back and threw him on the fire.' When the inevitable uprising took place, the response was characteristically barbaric. Men, women and children were burned alive in a large house where they had sought refuge. Those who escaped the flames were shot. 'My grandfather told me that, a month after the fire, thousands of butterflies of a kind never before seen in the Amazon began to sprout from the site,' says Yahuacari. 'All different kinds of butterflies with all different kinds of colours. My grandfather told me they were the spirits of the victims, of the people who had been burned.' Those atrocities are recounted in one painting – called The Stone-Hearted Man – that shows gangs of pale men in white hats and with pistols in their belts branding, decapitating and burning their way across a stretch of rainforest that has become a hell. All around them are the charred and broken bodies of Indigenous people. A century later, the rainforest is once again besieged. 'Today, Indigenous groups are having to fight back,' says Yahuarcani. 'We have to fight to protect our vegetation, our trees and to reforest.' But the odds are not in their favour. While more and more outsiders are coming to the Amazon in search of land, timber, gold and oil, many of the region's young people are abandoning their homes in search of education and employment. Respect for the rainforest is dwindling. Whenever they set out to hunt or fish, the Uitoto make an offering to the guardian of the forest animals: 'He's small and furry like a monkey and has the face of an 80-year-old person.' And, unlike the logging and mining corporations, they never take more than they need. 'In the Amazon,' he says, 'when we want to eat, we go to our supermarket – it's in the mountains, in the jungle, where there are fish and fruits. You bring home what you need and you don't destroy everything. God has said that man should not destroy nature, he should take care of it, because it is his home, too. You can't destroy your own house.' If the artist's subject matter has changed over the years, his techniques have not. Yahuarcani has always created his works by applying paint prepared from pigments, seeds, leaves and roots, to large sheets of llanchama, a cloth made from the bark of the ojé tree. His works are often inspired by the hallucinations brought on by the ritual ingestion of tobacco, coca, ayahuasca and mushrooms – substances long used by the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon when in search of help, knowledge or revelation. While getting llanchama requires the skills he learned from his bark-cutter grandfather, the use of hallucinogens harnesses and honours the cosmology, myths and traditions of Yahuarcani's people as he strives to draw attention to the threats they and the forest face. Perhaps the greatest of those menaces is indifference. Yahuarcani's home town of Pebas, which lies on a bend in the river as it meanders from north-east Peru towards Colombia, is as far removed as it could be from the artistic, political and media centres of the coastal capital, Lima. As a result, getting his work and its messages noticed has been a struggle. Yahuarcani is polite but insistent as he reflects on the difficulties that he and other Indigenous artists – not least his son Rember - experience when it comes to visibility and exhibition space. 'I use my work to show our myths,' he says. 'How our culture used to be, how we came to have the problems we now have. But it's been very tough because we were from the Amazon and we were Indigenous. We weren't allowed to exhibit in the museums, or do the interviews, because we were always put to one side.' Artists from Lima 'have always had more opportunities and more press'. Part of the problem, he says, lies in Peru's own view of its culture and history. 'When we were in school, we were taught about the Incas. About how the Incas built Machu Picchu, and so on. But there was nothing about us or our history, and that's been one of our complaints. Our stories aren't in the textbooks.' Yet he is adamant that this is a history people need – and want – to know about. When he exhibited a picture of the Putumayo atrocities in Lima a decade ago, 'the newspapers and the magazines were saying, 'Look at this! Look at this!' But the authorities were not at all interested.' Yahuarcani has been buoyed by the enthusiastic reaction to the Madrid show – even if it has meant braving the heat and chaos of the Spanish summer. He hopes the Manchester exhibition will be equally well received. But the recognition has been as hard won as it has been belated. Time is running out and, as one of his recent works plainly shows, the Amazon is changing rapidly and irrevocably. Painted earlier this year, Optic Fibre in the Depths of the Amazon River is a riotous, funny and faintly disturbing picture that shows dolphins, frogs, fish and turtles clutching mobile phones as technology reaches ever farther into the rainforest. One or two of the smarter fish are ringing their friends to let them know where the fishers are gathered so they can avoid them. The current cycle of expansion, encroachment and exploitation appears unstoppable. And if the forest goes then so does a branch of the Uitoto, their way of life, and their half-forgotten history. 'I hope Peru will do something about these issues,' says Yahuarcani. 'That there will be a book of these stories so young people can learn what happened to their grandparents. Today, we are the only family of the White Heron clan. There are no more. When we disappear, the White Heron ends.' Santiago Yahuarcani: The Beginning of Knowledge is at the Whitworth, Manchester, 4 July to 4 January; part of Manchester International Festival, 3-20 July.
The Guardian
5 hours ago
- The Guardian
Disabled Amazon workers in corporate jobs allege ‘systemic discrimination'
Disabled corporate workers at Amazon have accused the company of engaging in 'systemic discrimination', aggressively quashing their attempts to organize, and using artificial intelligence systems that they allege do not comply with US disability laws. At the center of the Amazon workers' complaints are allegations that the company has denied requests for accommodations for disabled staff in an 'automated' or 'semi-automated' way and have allegedly repeatedly removed messages and a petition from an employee Slack channel. Amazon disputes allegations that it discriminates against disabled workers. A 31 May letter sent on behalf of a group of more than 200 disabled workers to top executives, including Amazon's chief executive, Andy Jassy, claimed the company was fundamentally out of step with federal requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the 1990 civil rights law that protects people against discrimination based on disabilities. The letter cited policies related to return-to-office mandates, which the letter said were being pushed on disabled workers who previously were allowed to work from home based on medical recommendations, accommodation procedures and accessibility. Among other issues, it raised concerns that employee decisions around accommodation were being driven by AI processes that – one source claimed – do not necessarily follow ADA rules. One disabled corporate employee who had feared retribution for coming forward about workplace complaints told the Guardian they had been fired without explanation over the course of being interviewed for this story. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity while they were in the process of seeking new employment. 'After the removal of the messages on Slack and my firing, others are now afraid. I talk with them and they are terrified about Amazon doing this,' the person said. The employee who was fired was one of the leaders of a campaign to organize disabled workers. An email the person sent to senior Amazon managers on 6 June, which was seen by the Guardian, accused the company of violating federal labor rules that ensure rights to collective bargaining and disability-related rights to share information with others who have a disability. 'My Slack access was removed preventing me from sending updates, coordinating and engaging in [National Labor Relations Act] protected activities,' the person said. The Guardian was also provided screenshots of Slack messages and a petition that appears to have been removed from an Amazon employee Slack channel on disability and accessibility issues. Amazon did not dispute claims that the messages had been removed. The company said the messages were a violation of company policy to use Amazon's electronic systems for solicitation purposes. Amazon did dispute claims that it had retaliated against employees for seeking to organize on labor issues. A spokesperson said: 'Amazon respects employees' rights to organize and doesn't interfere with these rights. We don't discriminate or retaliate against employees for engaging in organizing activities.' In the 33-page letter to Jassy and other senior Amazon executives, the disabled workers said: 'The systemic discrimination, retaliation, and policy failures documented here not only violate the ADA but also erode trust, harm individual health, and compromise the company's integrity. We demand immediate action to reform these policies, foster a truly inclusive workplace, and uphold the rights of all employees.' The letter cited internal polls conducted by the group of Amazon employees, with 93% of respondents with disabilities claiming that current policies had harmed them. Another 71% of respondents claimed that more than half of their job accommodation requests had been denied or were unmet, and 92% reported a lack of an accessible job accommodation process. 'Employees requesting accommodations often encounter a lack of meaningful dialogue – requests are ignored, denied without explanation, or dismissed via automated systems,' the letter stated. The workers made a public petition to Amazon executives to address their concerns shortly after the email, earlier this month. In response to a request for comment, Amazon said an external survey of what it called a small number of unverified employees was not reflective of the opinions of everyone with a disability and that it was inaccurate to suggest otherwise. The company also said its disability and leave services team ensured that employees had access to accommodations and adjustments and that the decisions were driven by empathy. The process was not automated or semi-automated, Amazon said, and it denied that AI had been used for case processing or decision-making in the accommodation process. Sign up to Headlines US Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion The disabled Amazon workers are overwhelmingly corporate, not warehouse, workers. People who spoke to the Guardian on the condition of anonymity were particularly angry about their claims that efforts to organize on Slack – which they said was a modern-day version of the office water cooler – were being denied and suppressed, including by the company allegedly removing posts that sought out workers' opinions. 'The company is cracking down, and they're very concerned, and many people are being told not to post here,' claimed one Amazon employee. Another employee who no longer works at Amazon claimed management had dismissed disabled workers' complaints as being 'disruptive and unproductive', and had undermined the first-ever corporate union collective bargaining group. The National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency that is meant to protect federal worker rights, has recently weighed in on employers suppressing workers' organizing efforts on workplace Slack accounts: in October 2024, the NLRB issued a complaint against Apple, alleging the company was interfering with workers' rights to collectively advocate for improved working conditions on Slack. In a statement at the time, Apple said it disagreed with the claims. The case was indefinitely postponed by the NLRB in March 2025; the reasons for that move are unclear. In 2023, Amazon touted a ranking of 'best place to work for disability inclusion' from a non-profit it funds. But the company has also faced a handful of legal challenges related to its treatment of disabled workers. A 2023 report by United for Respect alleged Amazon's warehouse workers face systemic barriers in obtaining reasonable job accommodations for their disabilities or workplace injuries at the company. A 2024 lawsuit was filed against Amazon for allegedly failing to provide a sign language interpreter to a deaf employee at a warehouse in California. Amazon has denied the claim and the case in still being litigated. Pamela Hayter, a former Amazon employee, accused Amazon in 2023 of retaliating against her for advocating for remote work in response to Amazon's return-to-office mandate. Amazon has claimed she had performance issues. The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know. If you have something to share on this subject you can contact us confidentially using the following methods. Secure Messaging in the Guardian app The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said. If you don't already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu. Select 'Secure Messaging'. SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and post See our guide at for alternative methods and the pros and cons of each.
