Jeff Bezos' wedding and the depthless billionaire photo op
The depthless expense culminated a deluge of events facing many Americans: The country held its breath and doomscrolled in fear of war with Iran, endured record heat, witnessed charged protests over President Donald Trump's immigration policies, heard major Supreme Court decisions about reproductive health and saw Zohran Mamdani (who said on June 29, "I don't think we should have billionaires") win New York City's mayoral Democratic primary. Meanwhile, the city of Venice erupted in protests by locals and activists who saw the Bezos wedding as a sign of garish commodification of a fragile city. And that's a smattering of the news from last week.
The atmosphere of whiplash could explain our numbness. When social media timelines showed the world's richest zooming across Venetian waters to the wedding venue on the island of San Giorgio, its lack of substantial meaning or cultural impact is likely why so many hated it.
It's OK if you enjoyed gobbling up images of the richest people in the world in their fanciest attire. And we naturally seek fantasy in moments like these, according to culture journalist Louis Pisano (who was blocked on Instagram by Sanchez after posting his impressions about the wedding). But this wedding didn't provide sentimental escapism, he said - it was a chilly reminder there's a billionaire-dollar world we'll never dream of inhabiting.
"It felt extremely exploitative, which turned off any audience from the get-go," Pisano says. "The public had no bandwidth."
The Bezos wedding was an Italian melodrama we've seen before
The Italian celebrity wedding is a formula we've already experienced, Pisano says.
The wedding heavily sampled Ye (formerly Kanye West) and Kim Kardashian's pan-European nuptials in 2014, which saw Parisian pre-wedding events, a rehearsal dinner in Versailles and a Florence ceremony. The Bezos-Sanchez affair mapped itself along this Kardashian inspiration, mirroring Kim's highly-visible Parisian bachelorette party and featuring a performance at the main event by Mateo Bocelli, son of Andre Bocelli, who famously sang at both Kim and Kanye's and sister Kourtney Kardashian's weddings, Pisano points out.
Reference spawns much creativity in the world of fashion and culture (Kim expressed approval of the event, calling it "magical"). But somehow the Italian drama didn't hit the same tone. While not everyone is a Kardashian-West fan, audiences engaged with their wedding because they feel they knew the bride and groom, Pisano says, from watching the reality star and her family on TV to listening to the rapper's music.
"All of that created this worldbuilding around their wedding and their marriage ... to see how far both of them came," Pisano says.
Their wedding was innovative for 2014, lifting worlds traditionally reserved for magazine pages onto social media. But this time, the parade felt vapid.
The event seems to have desperately wanted a spot in the canon of celebrity weddings, says Discoursted newsletter writer Pisano. Fans approved as lifelong bachelor George Clooney finally (and romantically) tied the knot in Venice in 2014 to accomplished lawyer Amal Clooney. Or Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra's multiday party melding ritual with rich visuals. Or, most recently, the billionaire Ambani wedding in India that drew former U.S. officials, celebrities and, of course, Rihanna to its epicenter. They weren't just icing on the wedding cake, but cultural touchpoints realized through marriages.
'It turned my stomach': Rosie O'Donnell blasts Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sanchez's Italy wedding
But Bezos and Sanchez's wedding lacked a story to "root for," Pisano says. Rather, the couple invited a 200-person guest list that felt "random," if not transactional, Pisano says, with names like Sydney Sweeney, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Ellie Goulding and a solo Orlando Bloom.
"It was all very strategic from everybody's side," he says. "Was it believable that all of these people were such good friends? Absolutely not."
The guest list drew reactions across the internet.
"Does she know them?" one TikToker mused of Sweeney's invite. Leonardo DiCaprio was called out for attending a "carbon-intensive billionaire's wedding" in apparent opposition to the actor's climate activism. Commentator Blakely Thornton even went as far as to call the guests "confirmed losers" seeking gratification and status.
"I have a newly found disrespect for all of the celebrities who attended the Bezos wedding," one TikToker said. "Even if you don't think about the politics of it all, it's just an utterly swagless move. Now we all know who's tacky and tasteless."
Bethenny Frankel pokes fun at Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sanchez's wedding invitation
And those guests didn't come cheap: The cost of this single affair could cover the cost about 1,515 weddings in the U.S. today. As couples weigh economic uncertainty while planning their own weddings, they couldn't relate. Pisano says the grandeur felt incongruent with current trends favoring smaller, more thoughtful weddings.
And then there's the fact the pair waved and blew kisses as they boarded motorboats while protests raged across the city, decrying environmental and antitourist messages to the overcrowded city that is struggling with rising water levels. While the couple donated to local Venetian charities, Pisano says he's skeptical how much impact that holds.
"For one of the richest men in the world, to go to one of the most troubled cities in the world, and contribute to that, doesn't help bring public goodwill toward them," he says.
More: What to know about Jeff Bezos' first wife, MacKenzie Scott
Jeff Bezos' bride and a fashion message not received
The fashion is also a reason why the wedding was seemingly detached for people. Sanchez donned numerous looks over the multiday spectacle, but perhaps most notable was her wedding gown from Dolce & Gabbana, designers who've had their own controversies.
The more conservative dress featured a high-neck, adorned with 180 silk chiffon-covered priest buttons paired with a tulle-and-lace veil, according to a Vogue magazine exclusive.
The buttoned-up 1950s-inspired look was nod to Italian actress Sophia Loren. While the bride recognized the look was a "departure," for her, Pisano says the style was too jarring of a twist from the peekaboo lacy bra Sanchez wore to President Donald Trump's inauguration earlier this year.
"It's such a jump that feels inauthentic to her," Pisano says, noting her "girl boss bombshell persona."
Donatella Versace, who has been an outspoken LGBTQ+ advocate, also dressed the bride for one of the wedding party events, in spite of Amazon's rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion measures.
To her credit, Sanchez wears a heavy mantle trying to fit in as such a visible figure, but people were left wondering who this woman is supposed to be to them, Pisano says.
"She's looking for legitimacy ... She wants to switch into 'icon mode.'"
But was it a fit?
The couple desperately wanted to recreate an image from an outdated attention economy. The curation left the Bezos-Sanchez wedding feeling tired, working too hard to squeeze itself into a size it was starving for.
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