Jeff Bezos’ wedding to fiancée Lauren Sánchez in Venice is drawing more than just celebrity guests, it is also igniting protests from local activists who accuse the billionaire of using their historic city as a private playground for the ultra-rich.
The multi-day celebration, slated for Monday through Thursday on the exclusive island of San Giorgio Maggiore, is expected to draw high-profile attendees including Oprah Winfrey, Mick Jagger, Katy Perry, and Ivanka Trump. But while Venice’s city officials are embracing the glitz, local residents and activists are pushing back.
The activist group No Space for Bezos is leading demonstrations against the event, arguing that luxury festivities like this are accelerating the city’s transformation into a destination that caters only to the elite. On June 12, the group unfurled a massive banner with Bezos’ name crossed out from the bell tower of the San Giorgio Maggiore basilica, a dramatic sign of defiance. More protests are planned throughout the week, including efforts to block canals and narrow streets to disrupt access to the wedding.
“We want to take back our city that we are seeing constantly being privatized and taken away from us,” said group spokesperson Federica Toninelli. Another activist, Alice Bazzoli, added, “He is basically going to treat the whole city as a private ballroom, as if the citizens are not there.”
Though Venice’s iconic canals and architecture draw nearly 5 million tourists annually, the city’s historic center is home to just 50,000 residents. Locals have long warned that unchecked tourism and exclusive events are driving up living costs, shrinking affordable housing, and harming the environment, especially due to the arrival of massive superyachts like Bezos’s.
While the city has introduced tourist entry fees and restrictions on group sizes to address overtourism, many Venetians say those measures don’t go far enough. Events like the Bezos wedding, they argue, only deepen the crisis.
Despite the backlash, Venice’s leadership has welcomed the spectacle. Mayor Luigi Brugnaro called it an honor to host the wedding and dismissed the protests as the work of a vocal minority.