Bezos to hold pyjama party and Great Gatsby-themed bash as part of divisive three-day wedding
Jeff Bezos will host a pajama party, a Great Gatsby-themed party and other lavish celebrations as part of his three-day Venice wedding to Lauren Sanchez, as protests against the festivities continue across the city.
Listen to this article
The star-studded wedding will see a host of celebrities, billionaires and superyachts descending on the tiny city for three days, with a range of events planned.
One of these is a pajama party, while the week will also see Bezos host his guests at a party modeled after the elaborate weekly parties thrown by the lonely fictional protagonist of the Great Gatsby.
Leonardo DiCaprio, who portrayed Jay Gatsby in the 2013 movie adaptation, is one of the A-listers expected to attend the wedding, alongside legendary Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger and famous talk show host Oprah Winfrey.
Other stars that will descend on the city for Bezos’s bash include fellow billionaire Bill Gates, Lord of the Rings star Orlando Bloom and American socialite and influencer Kim Kardashian.
Elton John and Lady Gaga are reportedly scheduled to give private performances at the wedding, though their respective representatives have denied this.
Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner are also going to attend, according to TMZ, as well as Donald Trump Jr. and his partner.
There are even rumours that Donald Trump himself will make an appearance at the wedding, as he is currently in Europe for the NATO summit in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Bezos is fond of Trump, and was one of many billionaire CEOs to attend the US president’s inauguration ceremony in January, alongside bosses of companies including Google, Apple, Tesla and Meta.
The wedding will see around 250 attendees fly into the World Heritage city, as 95 private jets are expected to land in Venice, and many hotels and water taxis booked out for the multi-day celebration.
Before the festivities began, Bezos, 61, and his wife-to-be hosted a foam party on his $500 million (£371 million) superyacht moored in the city.
Bezos was pictured on the deck of the boat with his fiancée as a huge foam cannon soaked them and their guests, as other guests were seen hitting golf balls from the massive boat into the sea.
While businesses including hotels and water taxi operators relish in the millions of euros that are likely to be spent during the celebrations, others have been protesting what Italian media has called “the wedding of the century.”
The world’s third richest man was reportedly forced to change one of the venues of his wedding as protests against it intensified, with protesters threatening to fill the city’s famous canals with inflatable crocodiles to block guests from arriving.
Locals and activists have condemned the extravaganza for embodying global issues including over-tourism, corporate greed and climate change.
Leading protestor Tommaso Cacciari claimed the protest was successful, and that the party on the third night will no longer be held at the Scuola Grande di Santa Maria della Misericordia, an easily accessible former charity building.
Instead, he said festivities will take place at a building in the former shipyard, the Arsenale, where you "cannot approach by foot" and is "much easier to keep people away."
Locals have accused Bezos of arrogance for "hijacking" the Italian city for his wedding, with one banner reading: “If you can rent Venice for your wedding you can pay more tax.”
There has been no comment from Mr Bezos's representatives on the protests.