With only a few days to go before Jeff Bezos’ lavish wedding to former television journalist Lauren Sanchez, protests continue in the Italian city that the billionaire has chosen for the ceremony.
Activists from the international environmental group Greenpeace and campaign group Everyone Hates Elon unfurled a giant banner on Monday in Venice’s St. Mark’s Square, calling for Bezos to pay higher taxes.
“If you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can pay more tax,” the 65×65 inches banner featuring a giant smiling Bezos reads.
Why Are Venetians Mad at Jeff Bezos?
As soon as Venice’s mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, confirmed in March that Bezos wanted to celebrate his nuptials in the city, anger has been boiling among many residents over the Amazon founder taking over their home.
The three-day celebration, scheduled for later this week, is expected to have famous guests, including Oprah Winfrey, Mick Jagger and Ivanka Trump. While not many details of the event have been shared with the public for security reasons, the wedding will take over the entire island of San Giorgio, located opposite St. Mark’s Square, blocking parts of the city to both locals and tourists.
Not only will residents have to plan their routes around the restrictions caused by the wedding, but they will also likely find that most of the city’s water taxis have already been booked by Bezos and his guests. Part of the port of Venice, on the other hand, will be occupied by Bezos’ super yacht, which will be docked there during the dayslong event.
While city and regional authorities who greenlit the wedding said that the event will bring prestige and wealth to the city, residents already struggling with overtourism and the rising costs of housing are skeptical.
“Life is getting increasingly difficult in Venice,” Marta Sottoriva, an activist with the group ‘No Space for Bezos,'” previously told Newsweek.
“Of course, part of the city is in favor [of the wedding]. It’s the part that has something to gain from it, but we’re talking about a small percentage. Luxury hotel owners, taxi drivers, catering agencies,” she said.
However, many Venetians are tired of these large-scale events, which “block the city” for residents, Sottoriva said.
“There’s a feeling spreading among citizens, we don’t believe that these big events bring money to the city anymore. It’s linked to an economy that is becoming increasingly precarious, tied to tourism,” she said.
‘A Sign He Should Pay More Taxes’
Protesters in Venice, who plan to disrupt the wedding by jumping into the canal’s waters this weekend, said that their anger is not directed at the wedding itself, but rather at the groom.
“Jeff Bezos is not a superstar, not a Hollywood actor, not a sports champion,” Sottoriva said, mentioning actor George Clooney’s wedding in Venice in 2014, which was well-received by locals. “He’s the third-richest man in the world, who’s built his wealth by exploiting workers and resources.”
“He’s the same person who stood next to Trump during his inauguration ceremony, together with many other oligarchs he hasn’t hesitated to change his company’s entire branding to get onboard with this totalitarian turn,” she added. “It’s a protest against Bezos, he’s not welcome in Venice.”
The new banner revealed on Monday in St. Mark’s Square focuses on Bezos’ enormous wealth, which protesters said should be taxed more than it currently is.
“As governments talk about hard choices and struggle to fund public services, Jeff Bezos can afford to shut down half a city for days on end just to get married. Just weeks ago, he spent millions on an 11-minute space trip. If there was ever a sign billionaires like Bezos should pay wealth taxes, it’s this,” a spokesperson from Everyone Hates Elon said in a statement shared with Newsweek.
“While ordinary people struggle to pay the bills, there are more billionaires than ever before. These two things are obviously connected—they’re getting richer at our expense. It’s not rocket science: tax billionaires like Jeff Bezos now.”
Bezos is the second-richest person in the world, after Elon Musk, but he reportedly pays a 1.1 percent true tax rate, according to ProPublica.
His wedding in Venice has been estimated to cost between $15 million and $20 million, according to the Mail Online, while Sanchez’s wedding ring alone is worth as much as $5 million.
There is also an environmental factor at play: it is no secret that Venice is sinking, and the city’s future is under threat from climate change and human activity. According to Royal Museums Greenwich, the city is currently sinking by 1mm (0.04 inches) a year due to natural processes, while sea level rise is accelerating due to global warming.
Venice has recently banned big cruise ships from docking. Bezos’ wedding splurge is seen as unnecessary and harmful by protesters.
“While Venice is sinking under the weight of the climate crisis, billionaires are partying like there is no tomorrow on their mega yachts,” Clara Thompson, a Greenpeace campaigner, said in a statement shared with Newsweek.
“This isn’t just about one person—it’s about changing the rules so no billionaire can dodge responsibility, anywhere. The real issue is a broken system that lets billionaires skip out on taxes while everyone else is left to foot the bill. That’s why we need fair, inclusive rules, and they must be written at the UN.”
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