Tragic Real Reason Behind Bezos’ Gaudy Wedding | The Daily Beast Podcast

I'm Joanna Coles, chief content officer of The Daily Beast, and this is an emergency Daily Beast podcast to address the huge, world shattering event that happened at the weekend. You know what I'm talking about. Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez joined together. in holy matrimony $50 million. We don't deny them happiness or love. How anybody who's been divorced deserves another chance at happiness. But Liz Plank, author of Feminist Fabulous, doesn't agree.

She spent the weekend drinking iced coffee through paper straws. and then suddenly realized there's something wrong with this picture. So we decided we would talk to the humorist, the author, the podcast, and the Substack to find out. what she really thinks. This is an emergency podcast. Obviously, in the wake of the biggest event. in the world this weekend, the Venice back and all of Jeff.

Bezos and Lauren Sanchez and Liz, you watched the whole thing while he was while he was sucking iced coffee. through a paper straw, which prompted a column which went completely viral. Just take us through it. I'm going to read a couple of lines from it, but just take us through that moment when you realized you were using a. paper straw and they were spending $50 million on their wedding in Venice.

Yeah, I think it's a feeling that is familiar for a lot of people. Sometimes it's hard to name the sort of apocalyptic. All right, sort of like, dissociative state that we can be in. sometimes where, yeah, I'll be cleaning out, like, a ketchup bottle, you know, to make sure that I can recycle it properly. And then, yeah, I'll see Jeff Bezos, you know, on his super yacht. In in foam. In foam. In.

Yes. And, doing foam parties and, you know, 94 private jets flying into, you know, Venice into a sinking city, basically. And and I. Yeah. And then at the same time, I'm seeing seniors, you know, disabled seniors being zip tied at the Capitol for just, fighting for their right to be alive and not have their meds. taken away from them with this new budget bill. That is being voted on as we speak. And, yeah, I think many of us have experienced that, that kind of contrast.

Right. And and again, I think a lot of us just dissociate because you have to go on with your life. But there was something very ironic about my, my paper straw, disintegrating in my mouth. As, as I was watching, Lauren Sanchez, you know, inherit $260 billion. And so, I want rich people to to have a great summer, I really do. And it will be a lot easier if, if, if, you know, we. Yeah. Had proper taxation, on everybody and we had social services.

that weren't being taken away to create a tax cut for people to have, you know, other swimming pools and other private jets. At the, at the cost of, you know, life saving. services for, for people who do pay taxes in this country. It was a really shocking image to see the people in the wheelchairs being zip tied. These were seniors. in low wheelchairs protesting the cuts against Medicare and Medicaid. And that was an extraordinary image of them, actually.

But I wanted to come back to this sense because it was one of the things. that struck me about this extraordinary back canal, was a the reluctance with which Leo DiCaprio wanted to be Leo DiCaprio, normally the most dangerous place between Leo DiCaprio and the camera. Right. But he had this. He had his hat over his head. It was like this bear, but he didn't want you to know he was there. Meanwhile, his girlfriend was frantically. He was staying, so we all knew she was there.

Why do you think he was so reluctant? I think deep down, again, I think celebrities are people. I think Leonardo DiCaprio is, is a human being. I think is. You know, is he. Is he I mean, again, I want to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Again, I want everyone to have a great hot girl, summer. And I think Leo knows. I definitely going to have a hot girl. Summer. I mean, clearly, I saw yeah, an article. He broke his 25 year old, and under rule because his girlfriend is 27.

So, huge for him. See? Shows flexibility. Yeah. My man Contestability. Yeah. Even as he's getting older, normally the girlfriends get younger. I like this, this is great. Yeah. It's amazing. But but, yeah, I think he does. know, that that there's that there's a hypocrisy there. Right. And that he will be be judged for for being there. And to be honest, I think when I saw him do that, I was like, okay, well, at least he sort of knows that he should be doing better.

I was sort of shocked to see. Yeah, just celebrities and full glam, right. Like on the getting on these boats. and wanting to sort of promote the fact that they were there. I found that very sort of, shocking. And, and I don't know if. Yeah, that kind of blows my mind. That's where I go, like, who's around them, you know, it's like the whole space, controversy. Right? You just wonder what's, you know. Yeah. Who in their life is, is sort of,

helping them remain connected to the real world, which I think is hard when you're a celebrity. You're not in the real world. But, Leo to me, yeah, that that I actually like that he had his face. That felt normal. One of the things that I find interesting is this, is perhaps now that Trump, Donald Trump, has given permission to everybody to release their inner vulgarian. So where it used to be that billionaires were on the most, for the most part, relatively discreet about their wealth. And, you know, a lot of them, like Warren Buffett, signed the Giving Pledge.

that they were actually going to give their money away before they died. Actually, now it seems to be like, no, we're going to show off. as much as we possibly can, and we're really going to enjoy it. And not only are we going to enjoy it, but we're going to post it, we're going to monetize it, and we're going to flaunt it. And what I find really intriguing, as the confetti settles in Venice. outside the gritty palace, is the idea that in New York.

we are now wrestling with a democratic socialist who's won the New York. primary for the Democratic Party, which is causing panic. not only in the Democratic Party, but also the Republican Party. and I can't help feeling the two aren't connected. 1,000,000%. And I have watched the internal fighting. on the Democratic side being so perplexed. I honestly as perplexed as I was watching this wedding in Venice. where it just again, it feels very out of touch.

You know, Zarin had not again, Democrats have been talking for, you know, years, but especially I think, in the last few months of just. if only we had, you know, a candidate that could get young people excited. If only we could get a candidate that gets men excited. And Zoran was leading. Right. With both of those demographics. I think one of the things that fascinated me. was his support with with young men. Right. Because again, I think on the Democratic side, there's.

this idea that, okay, we have to I mean, we know that there's been. a millions of dollars invested in, like, how are we going to talk to men, right? How are we going to, change the way that we relate to men. when men want, to be able to pay for the rent, right. Like men are people, and people want to be able to, you know, work and that and that if they have a job, then they can live, right? So yeah, he he excited young people. He excited young men. And here are, you know, Democrats just kind of like.

pushing the bed and yeah, I'm. I'm very disappointed to see it, but at the same time very excited. I mean that there's there's a lot to be excited about, you know, as much as the at the Bezos wedding. And there's our eye on discourse and this, you know, budget bill. There's there's a lot of positive things now. not only what happened in New York, but what's happening in Hungary. Not to like, take us fully off, topic, but, you know, there was a pride parade that turned into basically a banned pride.

parade in Hungary by Orban who said, you know, don't go. And if you go, we're going to use facial recognition to arrest you. And that, ignited. Right? People who aren't even queer or wouldn't even have gone. to a pride parade, perhaps to go and, you know, take a take a real stance against this authoritarian regime. And 300,000 people showed up, right. And people who again and obviously they're they're,

you know, supporting gay pride, and queer people. But it became about so much more than that, where people realized, like, if you're going to use facial recognition. to arrest gay people, like you're going to use it against me. And it's the same thing with all of these issues. And I think that are spreading in a way, you know, I hope becomes a way for progressive like messaging. to really be about the working class, to really be about economics, and that this, you know, man who has helped, you know, Republicans and and I think that's.

Yeah, again, I don't think the wedding was good, but I think it I just want people to be angry. Like I just want people to let themselves. It felt inflammatory, didn't I? I want I want to come to a point that you made about actually, how much Jeff Bezos or Amazon has paid in tax in a moment. But I want to write to to ask you about a very good point that Frank Bruni, raised in The New York Times, which was about this now, this sort of mob. of celebrities that turn up to everything, and it's the same people.

So the guests at the base are sweating. Including the base of this now are also. So it's like a rolling caravan of celebrities. They turn up at the Met Gala, they turn up at the Oscars, the Golden Globes, and it's this sort of pack of celebs. that just turn up and you're like, are they really friends? I mean, this is just a strange bunch of people. It's Oprah, it's Gayle, it's the Kardashians, it's Leo. It just seems it's Ivanka and Jared.

It's a sort of strange mob of people that turn up and everything. Yeah, it's I mean, again, yeah. I don't know if they're friends, you know, I think they're there. And this is again. I mean, the sources who are there to amplify the wedding. I almost forgot the guests had been invited. based on their Instagram following. Right, right. But and and again, even like if you think about Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg.

Right. And Elon Musk, right. A few years ago, just a few years ago. Right. These were not people. that we would have seen at the inauguration. and certainly not going to front row at the inauguration. And, yeah, I think that there is a feeling. Cool. You know, it's a it's a sort of primitive, instinctual human thing. to, you know, like I got invited, you know, I'm part of the crew. And but, yeah, you're part of what crew? You know, you're part of of. what? Like, what are you, Yeah.

What message are you sending by going to that wedding? What I would love is like a list of the people who are invited and didn't go. Yeah. You know. Like, that would be interesting. I mean, we had a piece at the beast saying that Donald Trump, that Donald Trump had been invited, and Jeff. Bezos was disappointed he hadn't gotten a new thing. Wow. Because you went to the inauguration, the least he could do is come to your wedding. Yeah. Range. And again, you know, there's so many things. that feel,

not normal. Right. And, and we kind of get, get used to it, but but I think that. Yeah, the inauguration, you know, we talked about it a bit, but I think it's worth re asserting like. it is not normal that we had, you know, tech CEOs and CEOs in general have a better seat than. many of the people, many of the public servants, right, in our government. And I think that we've sort of gotten used to that in a weird way. It's, you know, the whole,

techno, you know, sort of bureaucracy or, you know, sort of oligarchy mixed with tech, not with, with tech giants sort of being enmeshed and in charge, and enabling this government. And yeah, celebrities with large Instagram followings, like, want to get into that power and influence. And they do have power and influence, which is again, sort of the scary thing. You know, public servants, people who are elected, should be the ones who have the most power and sort of agency in terms of deciding,

you know, what happens in this country and we've yeah, we've, we've we haven't totally lost that, but we've certainly like moved very far, very quickly away from that. But I wonder if this is a tipping point, this wedding, because what. I was fascinated by was when Vogue started posting the pictures of the dress, fitting the comments, at least the first, probably 200 comments that I read. were almost entirely critical, saying this is ridiculous enough already. Shame on you, Vogue.

No wonder you're stepping down on a winter. And then another thing that went completely viral alongside your column. was, the picture of Lauren. getting dressed and then in the corner with two young. what looked like seamstress ears, dressed in a uniform, looking utterly impressed. and as if they were kind of, I don't know, old fashioned uniforms, servants. Or. Shots off. I mean, that went crazy viral. So you realize that people are looking for clues.

as to how other people are finding this, and they're finding it, a revolting. Yeah, a. revolting spectacle of a complete show off array. And it's a show off for me I find so interesting. because Lauren Sanchez was a journalist. She's sensitive to the audience and what people think of her. And this felt like too much. Just too much for everybody. Yeah. Wow. I didn't see that, photo, and I can't wait to see it.

I think a lot of people feel powerless, right now. And literally those comments, like people who made those comments. Again, I don't want to encourage cyberbullying, but like, you can cyberbully for democracy, right? Like you actually commenting. And again, even, you know, I talk about this. a lot as you know, a creator or influencer, right? Like that. You are if you are, if you're following an influencer, you are influencing them. Right? Like I'm totally influenced.

and I'm reading the comments from people who follow me. And then I bring those things into the messaging and into the platform. that I have. And same thing with, again, commenting on a vote. So today, you know, again, as we speak, the Senate is voting on the budget bill. And what's happening right now is there's a whole contingency online. There's a spreadsheet that is being circulated of not only, you know, the sort of three senators that could be flipped because basically, again, it feels super to feed us. It feels like, well, we're never going to.

we actually only need. one Republican at this point to flip for the entire budget bill to, you know, not work. And so people are circulating the, you know, handles. of those three sort of very persuadable Republicans. It's three Senator Susan Collins, Lisa murkowski. And who's the other one, Ron Johnson, Ron Johnson from Wisconsin. Wisconsin and there's a spreadsheet of not only their handles, you know, for people to sort of flood their accounts. And obviously, again, traditional phone calls also work. But yeah, if you can do this from your phone, right.

But there's also a list of their donors and their Instagram and Facebook. and social pages for people to flood those pages with comments. so that those donors are also signaling back to their, you know, the representatives, to to vote no on this bill. And again, by the time this podcast airs, we'll know if it worked or not. But I think it's really the thing that I want to always leave people. with during this time and during these very unprecedented times. is that you are making a difference.

There are things that you can do every single day. And like, again, these, you know, some of these, these donors like lobbying. Some of them have, you know, after we've been posting about it, a lot of people have been commenting, removed their comments. Right. Like they're starting to respond to it and who knows what they're doing behind, you know, closed doors. But there's all kinds of actions that you can do. And again, I think commenting on Vogue and being like, we don't like this, you know, capitalism will do its thing, you know, like,

like Vogue wants to sell copies and Vogue wants to make money. And if you say, I'm not going to buy this and I'm not going to, you know, I've been on follow. Like, those are real consequences for, corporations that that at the end of. the day, like, you have so much influence and you have so much power over. Do you think that anyone is ever going to give up Amazon. so much as I railed against this wedding, and I'm thrilled for them. that they found love, I think anybody that's on the second. or third marriage deserves a good shot at happiness. I wish the many, many foam parties in their future.

I just didn't like the show off arenas of it, and I think it's tone deaf at a time when, you know, there is just the biggest inequality we've ever had between rich and poor. Yeah, but I'm not going to give up Amazon. I wish I could, I just find it irresistible. It's I mean, good. It's so convenient. It's ruined the high street. It's so convenient. It is. And, you know, on, Gyarados, writes about this a lot, and he's, you know, talked to me about this.

where he doesn't it's, you know, getting rid of Amazon again. Do it. I'm not saying that boycotts don't work, but it's a little bit like washing. the ketchup bottle, you know, like you're asking people to individually, you know, do something that collectively and again, the government should be doing. which like people should be, should be again, people should have a right to have Amazon Prime, I think, and have again, like not lose on certain conveniences that that, you know, company provides.

The problem is that, yeah, Jeff Bezos doesn't pay income tax. The problem is, you know, he's not being properly taxing. Amazon is not being properly taxed. So again, if we were able to do that, then everyone would be able. to keep their Amazon Prime. Everyone and rich people could be. going on their vacations and having fun, and we wouldn't be past you. Actually, in your piece, you actually say that Jeff Bezos. played zero in federal income taxes in both 2007. and 2011, and in 2011.

He claimed a $4,000 child tax credit. Is that true? Yes. And then. he says, you say Amazon paid nothing in federal taxes. in 2018. Literally that feels like it needs a much wider audience. Yeah. And you know who also, you know evaded a lot of taxes Donald Trump. Right. And and those stories were written and and told.

And unfortunately you know it didn't move enough people to do nothing. You know I will think how do I evade tax? I don't think they think. Oh, that's. Really terrible. They're like, okay, well if he did it, I must be able to do it. Well, I think again, the right has done. a really good job of selling the American dream. Right. And sort of selling the idea that, this could be you. And I think that photo, actually, that you talked about, that dispels that myth. Because when you see that photo,

people will watch that photo and be like, I'm not Lauren Sanchez. I'm I'm the woman behind her. Right? Like, I'm the woman in the uniform. I'm the person in the uniform. But I, I think in a way it's all linked, right? When you see very rich people showing off like that, it just feels disconnected it from actually the anxiety that most people have. that they don't have more than $400 for an emergency, that 50% of the American. population don't have more than $400 to deal with an emergency.

And that's the difference between the very rich. and 50% of Americans, literally. And again, coming back to that's why Democrats. need to get behind someone like Sauron, who is, yeah, speaking to the working. class directly and offering, you know, a free busses, right. Like things that would help the working class, and that are simple and pragmatic. And again, I hope people feel angry, you know, when they see those images.

That's why I wrote the article. At first I was like, okay, it's. just I'm just going to ignore it because I'm just pissed off. But then I was like, no, it's actually really, really important for us to. to pay it, you know, sort of pay attention to what's going on and actually. see all of what you're talking about, which is the showing. off the lavishness and just the contrast with the average American. This is not what I loved about the the photo that you just referenced. with the two women in the corner is that it was inadvertent that they did not know. when they were putting that photo out, that that's.

what people would home in on this another picture of her. sitting on a sort of kitchen sink in a rather nice looking, sort of artisanal kitchen. But in the corner under the sink, there appears to be a couple of toilet. rolls, and clearly nobody had noticed it. But it's just the juxtaposition of her sitting on this kind of. kitchen counter and then, oh, that's where they store the toilet rolls. So worth looking out for. If you're going to go to vote or Vogue.com and look at the pictures, I advise you.

to spot the toilet rolls. Oh. Why do you think Vogue did that? I wonder if it was a wink to people. And I can't help wondering if Anna Wintour just had enough at this point. She was like, oh God, it's time to go. It's time. I can't do another one of these. Yeah. Because you're oh, I love that. The idea that is a wink because it felt, you know, Katie Couric, my girl, our girl, you know, commenting on how tacky it looked, right?

Like. Yes. You know, she's, Did you see Katie's comment? I did, I did see, yeah. We wrote a piece about her, her comment. But I wondered if some of the imagery in Vogue was deliberately done. to be subversive. So on the one hand, it looked like it was all magic. But in fact, you have the two sullen seamstresses, and then you have the toilet rolls. Oh, wow. I'm obsessed with that take, Donna. I'm obsessed. I love that I know that on purpose. to get all these people, you know, commenting and being angry.

I love. That. I'm wondering. I can't help noticing they're very, very good photo editors over there. Every part of an image is studied within a moment of its life. I'm pretty confident that was a subversive message. going out from the unionized employees at Condé Nast. Sure, sure. Okay, well, I love that whoever was behind it, if it was one person. behind the scenes, you know, sometimes it's one person going rogue. Like maybe the. Yeah, the editor, or the whole team, I'm loving it.

And everyone can do it no matter what your job is, no matter where you live, no matter what community you're in. Like, you can influence people in so many more ways. than I think you can possibly understand. Or you're possibly being sort of told. Right. And that's a perfect example, right? A Vogue. Yeah. Vogue could have just not done it, but doing it in a way that's subversive. is so fascinating as a way to, Well.

We'll never know. We'll never know if it was never, but, you know. But but but my hunch is. it was there's been so much negative feedback online about this. What do you think Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez actually. get out of this? What do they get out of having these? Well, they want to be cool, right? Like like the rich, but they probably want to be cool even more, right? Or again, there's sort of. I'm sure they want more money, but, you know, probably. there's diminishing returns when you're in the billions.

And so being cool, right, is, is. This what is this what makes you cool? Wouldn't it have been cool. to take their 70 family members and a couple of decent friends. and actually just go off and do do this somewhere discreet or. do you think the more money you spend on a wedding, the truer the love? Goes in their study it was a few years back, but like the more. you spend on your wedding, the the more likely you are to get a divorce. I don't know. I remember like ten years ago.

that was like a maybe it's been disproven, but but no, it's it's. I mean, I think about this all the time with like, money and and. Yeah, showing, like people, people who namedrop a lot. Right. Like people who, who know a lot of celebrities don't namedrop. they don't, they'll say, oh, my friend, my friend, you know, and it's like Jennifer Aniston, you know, they won't namedrop people who have a lot of money. and feel secure in that don't don't do these lavish displays of, of of wealth. To your point, they do private things and there are many celebrities right.

there, many rich people on earth who are prime examples of that. But to me, yeah, there's something about I think it was almost less about the money. and more about, look at all these friends that we have. Look at all these fancy people who like us. Look at, you know, Oprah, one of the most beloved people on earth likes me, you know? And again, friendships can be transactional for anybody. But I think when you have a lot of wealth. and when you have a lot of fame, they're especially transactional. Or there's a very, you know, high risk of it being transactional.

And so I wouldn't be surprised. that there are things that we don't know about, you know, that are happening, even Oprah probably has dreams and things that she wants to do. And, and, having a friend that's a billionaire probably. helps her achieve it. I don't know, I, you know, this is all speculation. But I think I was a billionaire herself. I found it hard to think of something that Oprah has said. she couldn't fund herself. But I thought, again, possibly subversive in the Vogue piece,

there's a moment where Lauren cries that cries out when she's in her dress, fitting that she feels like a princess, and the people that call back on her, and they all go, oh, you look like a princess. You are a princess. And of course, they are the seamstresses, the stylists, the production people, i.e. everybody is being paid. For a staff. Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's so again. Now I'm gonna watch all of the content that Vogue put out with your theory. And I'm like going to see it differently.

But yeah, again, like maybe, maybe that was on purpose. And and again, if you've been around, you know, again. fame and wealth like that's what often happens. Like they're surrounded by people who are on their payroll. Paid. Out. Oh it's just that they're. Yeah, it's it's so a different world. And I think the best famous people and the best rich people are. the ones that have real friends and not friends that are that are. Yeah, sort of getting something out of that, friendship and.

and maybe that's one of the, one of the things that's going on, I don't know, I it's very perplexing. It's very perplexing. It's it's it'll be something to watch. She'll be something to watch. Weird. Yeah. Oh, the mob, the the celebrity carnival. will turn up at the next thing, whoever's wedding it is or whatever. Prize giving ceremony to is perhaps it'll be Donald Trump's Nobel. Peace Prize ceremony. Oh, yeah. Oh, I can't wait for that guest list. I'm.

Oh, my God, that'll be my final. My 13th. I think we'll see a lot of people. that were on the inauguration dais back again anyway. Liz Clark, sure, truly. An honor to have you. Thank you so much. Thank you. So there you have it. Cyber bullying for democracy. Let's discuss. Go to our comments page on YouTube and leave your thoughts on this emergency. podcast about the joining in matrimony of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez.

And may they have many foam parties in their future. Don't forget to subscribe to The Daily Beast. for up to date information on their honeymoon. Oh, and other things of course. Leave a comment and don't forget, be smart. This podcast was produced by Devin Roger arena.