These are the celebs who are attending Jeff Bezos' Venice wedding
Oprah Winfrey arrived in Venice on Thursday, leading a star-studded guest list of celebrities descending on the lagoon city for the weekend wedding of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez. Winfrey's private jet landed at Venice's Marco Polo Airport. The bride and groom pulled into the Aman Hotel dock on the Grand Canal on Wednesday, traveling via water taxi with security boats in tow.
A few hours later, they slipped out of the hotel with Sánchez wearing a sleek black and white striped, one-shoulder gown. The details of the nuptials have been a tightly kept secret, though the locations now appear to have firmed up, as has the guest list. Ivanka Trump, her husband, Jared Kushner, and their three children arrived Wednesday. Other celebrities on the guest list, according to two people close to the wedding who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly, include Mick Jagger, Katy Perry, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Orlando Bloom. Italian media reported the arrivals or presence of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Kim Kardashian, Diane von Furstenberg, and her husband, Barry Diller.
The wedding has divided Venice, with some activists protesting it as an exploitation of the city by the billionaire Bezos while ordinary residents suffer from overtourism, high housing costs, and the constant threat of climate-induced flooding. Protesters said that their plans to disrupt the arrivals of guests at one of the wedding venues forced organizers to move the event to the more secure Arsenale area beyond Venice's congested center.
The city administration has strongly defended the nuptials as keeping with Venice's tradition as an open city that for centuries has welcomed popes and emperors–and ordinary visitors alike. 'We will always respect the right to speak out, but we reject every form of intolerance and prejudice,' Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said in Thursday's edition of Italian newspaper Il Foglio Quotidiano. 'No one in Venice can claim the right of deciding who can enter, who can love, who can celebrate.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
10 hours ago
- Arab News
EU plans to add carbon credits to new climate goal, document shows
BRUSSELS: The European Commission is set to propose counting carbon credits bought from other countries toward the European Union's 2040 climate target, a Commission document seen by Reuters Commission is due to propose a legally binding EU climate target for 2040 on July EU executive had initially planned a 90 percent net emissions cut, against 1990 levels, but in recent months has sought to make this goal more flexible, in response to pushback from governments including Italy, Poland and the Czech Republic, concerned about the internal Commission summary of the upcoming proposal, seen by Reuters, said the EU would be able to use 'high-quality international credits' from a UN-backed carbon credits market to meet 3 percent of the emissions cuts toward the 2040 document said the credits would be phased in from 2036, and that additional EU legislation would later set out the origin and quality criteria that the credits must meet, and details of how they would be move would in effect ease the emissions cuts — and the investments required — from European industries needed to hit the 90 percent emissions-cutting target. For the share of the target met by credits, the EU would buy 'credits' from projects that reduce CO2 emissions abroad — for example, forest restoration in Brazil — rather than reducing emissions in say these credits are a crucial way to raise funds for CO2-cutting projects in developing nations. But recent scandals have shown some credit-generating projects did not deliver the climate benefits they document said the Commission will add other flexibilities to the 90 percent target, as Brussels attempts to contain resistance from governments struggling to fund the green transition alongside priorities including defense, and industries who say ambitious environmental regulations hurt their include integrating credits from projects that remove CO2 from the atmosphere into the EU's carbon market so that European industries can buy these credits to offset some of their own emissions, the document draft would also give countries more flexibility on which sectors in their economy do the heavy lifting to meet the 2040 goal, 'to support the achievement of targets in a cost-effective way.'A Commission spokesperson declined to comment on the upcoming proposal, which could still change before it is published next countries and the European Parliament must negotiate the final target and could amend what the Commission proposes.
Asharq Al-Awsat
21 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Final Bash Set to End Lavish Bezos Wedding Party in Venice
Newlyweds Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez left their luxury hotel on Venice's Grand Canal on Saturday for a final night of partying, crowning a three-day star-studded wedding extravaganza. Bezos, 61, and Sanchez, 55, exchanged rings on Friday evening on the small island of San Giorgio, across the water from Saint Mark's Square, accompanied by singing from Matteo Bocelli, son of Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. Bill Gates, Leonardo DiCaprio, Orlando Bloom, Tom Brady, Jordan's Queen Rania, Oprah Winfrey, Kris Jenner and Kim and Khloe Kardashian, as well as Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were among the A-listers present. Saturday's evening bash -- wrapping up celebrations for 200-250 guests estimated to have cost some $50 million -- was due to take place in the Arsenale, a former medieval shipyard in an eastern district of the lagoon city. Around 1,000 people marched against the event on Saturday, groups of activists and residents who object to the wedding and to seeing Venice being gift-wrapped for the uber-wealthy. Some guests were seen leaving the Gritti Palace hotel in central Venice wearing their pyjamas, sometimes beneath colorful dressing gowns, before boarding small boats to reach the party. Bezos and Sanchez had a more sober style. He was sporting a black shirt and suit, while she wore a soft-pink off-the-shoulder dress. They kissed on the boat while greeting those around them. At the ceremony the bride wore a high-necked silhouette dress and a tulle and lace veil by Dolce & Gabbana, which she told magazine Vogue was based on Sophia Loren's dress to marry Cary Grant in the 1958 film, Houseboat. Sanchez was also wearing a pair of diamond earrings by Dolce & Gabbana, which, according to Vogue, was lent to her in keeping with the tradition that it brings good luck for a bride to wear something borrowed. Bezos, who is No. 4 on Forbes' global billionaires list, donned a black tuxedo and bow tie over a white shirt. BUSINESSES, POLITICIANS WELCOME EVENT Friday's ceremony had no legal status under Italian law, a senior city hall official told Reuters, suggesting the couple may have previously wed legally in the United States to avoid the bureaucracy associated with an Italian marriage. While some residents and activists raged against Bezos as a symbol of inequality and arrogance, Venetian businesses and political leaders welcomed the luxury nuptials, hailing them as major boost for the local economy. "Those who protest are in contradiction with the history of Venice, which is a history of relations, contacts and business," Mayor Luigi Brugnaro told Reuters. "Bezos embodies the Venetian mentality. He is more Venetian than the protesters," said center-right mayor, adding that he hoped Bezos, who donated 3 million euros ($3.51 million) to local institutions, would return to the city to do business. Brugnaro said Bezos had attached no conditions to holding his wedding celebrations in Venice, and City Hall had only learned about his donations after they had already been made. Bezos, Amazon's executive chair, got engaged to Sanchez in 2023, four years after the collapse of his 25-year marriage to novelist and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.
Al Arabiya
a day ago
- Al Arabiya
‘Kisses Yes, Bezos No,' Protesters Say, as Bezos Wedding Bonanza Divides Venice
Hundreds of protesters marched through Venice's central streets on Saturday to say 'No' to billionaire Jeff Bezos, his bride, and their much-anticipated wedding extravaganza, which reached its third and final day amid celebrity-crowded parties and the outcries of tired residents. On Friday, the world's fourth-richest man and his bride, Lauren Sanchez Bezos, tied the knot during a private ceremony with around 200 celebrity guests on the secluded island of San Giorgio. The wedding, however, divided Venice, with some activists protesting it as an exploitation of the city by the billionaire Bezos while ordinary residents suffer from overtourism, high housing costs, and the constant threat of climate-induced flooding. As the two newlyweds prepared for the final party on Saturday evening, hundreds of Venetians and protesters from across Italy filled Venice's tiny streets with colorful banners reading 'Kisses Yes, Bezos No' and 'No Bezos, no War.' The demonstration contrasted with the expensive wedding bonanza seen by critics as an affront to the lagoon city's fragile environment and its citizens overwhelmed by throngs of tourists. 'We are here to continue ruining the plans of these rich people who accumulate money by exploiting many other people … while the conditions of this city remain precarious,' said Martina Vergnano, one of the demonstrators. The protest organizers had welcomed news that Saturday's wedding party, to be initially held in central Venice, was later moved to a former medieval shipyard, the Arsenale, amid high security. Bezos donated 1 million euros (1.17 million) each to three environmental research organizations working to preserve Venice, according to Corila, the Venetian environmental research association. But many protesters saw the move as a clear example of greenwashing. 'We want a free Venice which is finally dedicated to its citizens. … Those donations are just a misery and only aimed at clearing Bezos' conscience,' said Flavio Cogo, a Venetian activist who joined Saturday's protest. Details of the exclusive wedding ceremony Friday night were a closely guarded secret until Sanchez Bezos posted to Instagram a photo of herself beaming in a white gown as she stood alongside a tuxedo-clad Bezos. Athletes, celebrities, influencers, and business leaders converged to revel in extravagance that was as much a testament to the couple's love as to their extraordinary wealth. The star-studded guest list included Oprah Winfrey and NFL great Tom Brady along with Hollywood stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Orlando Bloom, tech entrepreneur and philanthropist Bill Gates, and top socialites including the Kardashian–Jenner clan. Ivanka Trump, her husband Jared Kushner, and their three children also joined the celebrations. The bride and groom stayed at the Aman Venice hotel on the Grand Canal, where Bezos posed for photos and Sanchez Bezos blew kisses to the press. 'The planet is burning, but don't worry, here's the list of the 27 dresses of Lauren Sanchez,' read one protest slogan, a reference to the bride's reported wedding weekend wardrobe. It featured a mermaid-lined wedding gown by Dolce & Gabbana and other Dolce Vita–inspired looks by Italian designers including Schiaparelli and Bottega Veneta. The city administration has strongly defended the nuptials as in keeping with Venice's tradition as an open city that has welcomed popes, emperors, and ordinary visitors alike for centuries.
