Jeff Bezos celebrated abroad as the crisis unfolded over his refusal to use the Washington Post to endorse Kamala Harris.
The billionaire was joined by his wife Lauren Sanchez and Katy Perry when the Post was hit by 250,000 people canceling their subscriptions in protest of the decision.
Perry had been celebrating her 40th birthday in Venice with Bezos, Sánchez and her fiancé Orlando Bloom. Sanchez marked the occasion with an Instagram Story showing the city’s channels, specifically tagging Perry, to thank him for “the best weekend.”
Days earlier, Amazon’s owner sparked a liberal crisis that boosted the newspaper’s expected support, a tradition that had been upheld for decades.
The fallout led him to publish an op-ed defending the decision, citing growing “distrust” in the media.
Jeff Bezos, 60, and his wife Lauren Sanchez, 54, partied abroad as the crisis unfolded over his refusal to use the Washington Post to support Kamala Harris, it has been revealed.
Still from Perry’s party at The Ritz Carlton in Switzerland for his 40th birthday, which Sánchez attended. Insiders later confirmed that Bezos was in Europe with his fiancée to take part in the festivities, during which Perry’s guests were flown to the hotel.
“What presidential endorsements really do is create a perception of bias,” the 60-year-old with a fortune of about $206.2 billion wrote on Monday.
‘A perception of non-independence. Ending them is a principled decision and it is the right one.”
Three days earlier, Post CEO Will Lewis released a memo announcing the absence of endorsement — the first time the paper would not issue one since 1988.
It generated an immediate reaction among Post readers, as well as intrigue among Post employees about Bezos’ whereabouts.
Reports by Tthe new york times over the weekend revealed that Bezos had been involved, around 12:30 a.m. Monday, the tabloid Hello! nailed its location.
The website wrote, “While the pop star has several famous friends in her orbit, it was her close friend (Sanchez) who was by her side for a luxurious and beautiful celebratory getaway,” while sharing snippets from the Instagram Story taken from a boat. in Venice.
Hours later, a source described as a “person who knew Bezos” confirmed Semafor that Bezos had been in Europe with his fiancée to celebrate Perry’s birthday.
Hello! billed the venue in Venice, before Perry took his closest friends to Geneva for a 1940s-themed party.
Sanchez marked the occasion with an Instagram Story showcasing the city’s seminal channels, specifically tagging Perry, to thank him for “the best weekend.”
Held at the Ritz Carlton, it saw the singer playfully brandishing a mini syringe with ‘OzempiKP’ written on it in reference to her recent weight loss.
It is unclear whether Bezos and Sánchez are in the photo, which is circulating on social media.
The couples have been spotted vacationing together in the past, in places like Croatia last year alongside Usher, and on Bezos’ superyacht for an A-list party this year, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio.
As this recent excursion was occurring, the fallout from the Post’s failure to endorse Harris was beginning to take hold, with a quarter of a million readers reportedly canceling their subscriptions within days.
The figure represents ten percent of the newspaper’s total digital subscription base.
Among them was The Wire creator David Simon, who called Bezos a “techno-brained oligarch.”
A flurry of resignations followed, with outgoing Post Opinion editor Robert Kagan claiming the decision arose from a quid-pro-quo with Donald Trump’s campaign, after Blue Origin executives were seen meeting with Trump last week. last week.
The Post’s decision last week generated almost immediate backlash, as well as intrigue among Post employees about Bezos’ whereabouts after he was linked to the decision.
Bezos published a lengthy op-ed Monday night explaining his newspaper’s decision not to endorse Kamala Harris for the election.
Another columnist, Michelle Norris, also withdrew on Sunday, writing in X that the decision was a “terrible mistake.”
Blue Origin is Bezos’ space company and the meeting came after a speech by Trump in Austin, Texas, on Thursday.
The Post denied that the meeting had anything to do with its decision, which was delivered in the form of a memo from editor Will Lewis, irritating several employees.
“We recognize that this will be read in a variety of ways, including as a tacit endorsement of one candidate, or as a condemnation of another, or as an abdication of responsibility,” Lewis wrote, before Bezos later weighed in on the development. crisis with his opinion article.
“That’s inevitable,” Lewis continued. ‘We don’t see it that way. We consider it consistent with the values that the Post has always defended.”
Twenty columnists wrote their own op-ed on the outlet’s website, calling the decision “a terrible mistake.”
‘The Washington Post’s decision not to make an endorsement in the presidential campaign… represents an abandonment of the core editorial beliefs of the newspaper we love,” he added.
Staff at The Post wrote their own article and published in the outlet that they believed the decision was a “terrible mistake.”
A spate of resignations followed, including those of outgoing Post Opinion editor Robert Kagan and columnist Michele Norris.
“This is a moment for the institution to make clear its commitment to democratic values, the rule of law and international alliances, and the threat posed by Donald Trump…the precise points the Post made in endorsing Trump’s opponents. Trump in 2016 and 2020.
Bezos bought the Post for $250 million in 2013. The newspaper has endorsed Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden in the past.
In his op-ed this week, he wrote that “there is no quid pro quo at play here” in response to now-growing accusations that his people were influenced by Trump’s team.
‘Neither the campaign nor the candidate were consulted or informed at any level or in any way about this decision. “It was done entirely in-house,” he wrote in the article.
‘I sighed when I found out, because I knew it would give ammunition to those who wanted to frame this as anything other than a principled decision.
“But the fact is that I didn’t know anything about the meeting beforehand,” the trade kingpin continued.
‘Not even Limp knew beforehand; The meeting was quickly scheduled that morning.
In his op-ed this week, Bezos wrote that “there is no quid pro quo of any kind here” in response to now-circulating accusations that he was influenced by Trump’s team.
“There is no connection between this and our decision on presidential endorsement, and any suggestion otherwise is false.”
Meanwhile, his newspaper is now in the midst of a surprising subscriber drop, after finally regaining some readers following Biden’s withdrawal from the race.
Before that, it had suffered cutbacks and talent losses, making its future even more uncertain.
The Times confirmed on Sunday that Bezos played a major role in the decision, after speaking with people familiar with the matter.