As Americans begin crowding into Senator Bernie Sanders’ “Fighting Oligarchy” rallies, top “oligarch” Jeff Bezos and his flashy fiancee Lauren Bezos are preparing for their glitzy Italian wedding this summer, which could prove to be the couple’s ultimate statement about the wealth, power and influence they hope to wield in American society under the presidency of Donald Trump.
Now, the couple seem set on enlisting some of America’s most popular celebrities in making such a statement, with TMZ reporting on the rich and glamorous A-listers who have made the guest list for what is shaping up to be the “ultra-luxe, ultra-exclusive” event of the year.
Sanchez’s “BFF” Eva Longoria made the guest list for the wedding of the billionaire Amazon founder and his soon-to-be-wife. So, too are Oprah Winfrey, Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom, Gayle King, Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian and Jewel.
TMZ also reported that Trump’s daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, made the cut, as did Ivanka Trump’s in-laws: Jared Kushner’s brother Joshua Kushner, and his supermodel wife Karlie Klaus.
TMZ sources furthermore revealed that fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg and her husband Barry Diller have been invited, which seems fair, given that the couple hosted a lavish, star-studded engagement party for Bezos and Sanchez at their Beverly Hills mansion in the fall. Others on the guest list include film producer Brian Grazer and models Brooks Nader and Camila Morrone.
But to some observers of the national mood, Winfrey, Longoria, Kardashian, Perry and the others could be accused of failing to “read the room,” oblivious to growing national anger against a growing oligarchy and Ameria’s “move toward authoritarianism,” as Sanders said in a speech on the Senate floor in February.
The Vermont senator talked about the growing divide between two Americas, amid increasing income and wealth inequality. At the very top are the relatively few “oligarchs,” who include Bezos and other tech titans such as Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, who view themselves as “modern-day kings” — which would make Sanchez a would-be “queen.”
Sanders said that, together, Bezos, Musk and Zuckerberg, are worth a combined $903 billion and own more than the bottom half of American society — 170 million.
“What we NOW have is an ideology being pushed by the oligarchs which says that as very, very wealthy people – often self-made, often the masters of revolutionary new technology and as ‘high-IQ individuals,’ it is THEIR absolute right to rule,” Sanders said.
When it comes to Bezos and Sanchez, they have effectively embraced Trump’s leadership by participating in a pretty stunning bit of stagecraft at the polarizing new president’s inauguration, which arguably served both Trump’s interests and their own. They stood in an honored position in the U.S. Capitol with Musk, Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook and other business leaders in what The Guardian called a display of the “oligarchy” and the powerful influence they expect “to wield” in Trump’s America.
Bezos and Sanchez has been especially demonstrative in being friendly with Trump — which should seem to shocking and disturbing to their famous liberal friends. That is, unless they, too, want to be part of Bezos and Sanchez’s new in-crowd.
After Trump’s election, the couple joined Musk for dinner with Donald and Melania Trump at Mar-a-Lago, with Trump boasting, “In this term, everybody wants to be my friend.” The night before Trump’s inauguration, Bezos and Sanchez also attended what Sanchez hailed as “a magical evening” — a candlelight dinner honoring Trump, where they got to schmooze with such MAGA figures as Musk and Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.
Winfrey, Longoria and Perry were among Bezos and Sanchez’s friends who were very outspoken in their opposition to Trump getting a second term — and the danger they said he posed to American democracy. While speaking at a campaign rally on behalf of Vice President Kamala Harris, Winfrey warned that the country stood on “precipice of danger,” with Trump poised to usher in an authoritarian regime if elected. Meanwhile, Longoria has said that America would become such a “scary place” under Trump that she was happy to be living outside the United States.
But Winfrey may experience of serious case of “FOMO” if she turns down an invitation to Bezos’ and Sanchez’s wedding of the year. So, too, would Longoria, Perry, Gayle King and the morally flexible Kris Jenner and Kim Kardashian.
Notably, Longoria has shown a willingness to turn a blind eye to concerns expressed by Sanders and others that Bezos and his oligarchic brethren “will sacrifice, without hesitation, the well-being of working people to protect their privilege.”
Last year, the longtime activist praised Bezos and Sanchez for their “courage and civility” after she received a $50 million prize from them, supposedly to be shared with nonprofits of her choice. Earlier this month, she included Sanchez in the “badass” women she celebrated in an Instagram post for International Women’s Day.
Meanwhile, King and Perry are set to join Sanchez in another splashy P.R. opportunity, possibly before the splashy wedding: an all-female trip to space on one of Bezos’s Blue Origin rockets.