VENICE, ITALY / NEW YORK – The internet is ablaze after a no-holds-barred attack from comedian Rosie O’Donnell on Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s recent $50 million Venetian wedding, calling the extravagant affair “gross” and personally trashing the new bride. O’Donnell’s fiery comments have sparked a celebrity pile-on, igniting a fierce debate about wealth, public image, and the boundaries of celebrity commentary.
Just days after the Amazon founder and Sánchez tied the knot in a lavish, star-studded ceremony in Venice, O’Donnell, 63, took to Instagram on Monday, June 30th, with an unfiltered critique that has quickly gone viral.
“The BEZOS wedding,” O’Donnell began her furious post. “It turned my stomach. Seeing all these billionaires. Gathering in the gross excess of it all. The show of it.”
But her criticism didn’t stop at the price tag. O’Donnell questioned the presence of A-list guests like Oprah Winfrey, the Kardashian-Jenner family, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Tom Brady, asking, “Is Oprah friends with Jeff Bezos? Really – how is that possible. He treats his employees with disdain. By any metric he is not a nice man.”
The former talk show host then turned her scathing attention directly to Lauren Sánchez, 55. In a shockingly blunt remark, O’Donnell labeled Sánchez a “fake fem bot wife,” contrasting her sharply with Bezos’ first wife, MacKenzie Scott, whom she praised as “the salt of the earth.” O’Donnell even posted “then and now” images of Sánchez alongside her comments, adding, “Who looks like that. Why would he choose her. After the salt of the earth Mackenzie.”
Rosie’s rant concluded with a biting spiritual assessment: “Sold his soul. Is what it looks like from here. The devil is smiling. At all his conquests,” before directing her nearly 700,000 followers to her Substack blog for more.
O’Donnell, who recently moved to Ireland, isn’t alone in her disdain. The Bezos-Sánchez nuptials have become a lightning rod for celebrity disapproval:
Charlize Theron threw major shade at her own charity event in Los Angeles. “I think we might be the only people who did not get an invite to the Bezos wedding,” Theron, 49, quipped, before adding, “But that’s OK because they suck and we’re cool.” She even reportedly added, “Yeah, f–k them,” while highlighting global issues over lavish parties.
Veteran journalist Katie Couric, 68, called Sánchez’s custom Dolce & Gabbana gown “tacky” in a scathing social media post, commenting, “Welcome to the eighties — when big hair and conspicuous consumption ruled. Apparently, tacky is back.”
Meanwhile, other celebrities like Mia Farrow and Olivia Munn used the wedding buzz to loudly champion MacKenzie Scott, 55, who walked away from her 2019 divorce with Bezos with an estimated $38 billion and has since pledged to give away at least half her wealth, reportedly donating $19.3 billion to over 1600 charitable organizations. “Truly incredible,” Munn commented on Farrow’s post praising Scott’s philanthropy.
The sheer scale of the $50 million wedding, coupled with Bezos’ vast wealth (estimated at over $200 billion) and criticism over Amazon’s labor practices, has clearly struck a nerve. The public’s reaction is mixed: while some defend the couple’s right to celebrate their love as they wish, others echo O’Donnell’s sentiment, viewing the opulence as tone-deaf in a world grappling with widespread economic hardship.
What do YOU think? Was Rosie O’Donnell out of line, or did she speak truth to power? Join the conversation below!