Why Jenna Bush Hager Would Skip Jeff Bezos’ Venice Wedding
So here’s the low-key take: Jenna Bush Hager is totally checked out from all the Bezos wedding buzz. During the June 26 episode of her daytime talker, Jenna & Friends, the 43-year-old co-host admitted she’d “hate” being at Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s star-studded nuptials in Venice. It’s not that she’s throwing shade—she’s just not into the hype.
Jenna told guest co-host Maria Shriver that the ceremony’s over-the-top publicity and local pushback are major deal-breakers. “Everybody’s talking about it. It’s very public. There’s protests in Venice, which I personally would hate,” she said. Some Venetian residents have voiced concerns about overtourism and the strain that such A-list events put on the city’s fragile infrastructure, so it’s understandable why a backyard bride like Jenna is giving it a pass.
Back in May 2008, Jenna opted for a super low-profile wedding in her parents’ backyard in Texas—no prying paparazzi or citywide uproar involved. “When I got married, I was so worried about people finding out where I was getting married. We did it in my parents’ backyard in Texas, where nobody could be except for the people we love,” she explained. That intimate vibe is worlds away from a multi-day celebration with protests and paparazzi lurking around every canal turn.
Jenna and Maria both noted that they weren’t even on the invitation list. As Maria quipped, this celebration is “very exclusive,” and it’s clear they didn’t get the memo. Meanwhile, Kim Kardashian, Khloé Kardashian and Kris Jenner have already touched down in Venice, rubbing elbows with Scooter Braun and Orlando Bloom—who arrived sans longtime partner Katy Perry amid swirling split rumors.
Celeb sightings have become their own sport: Leonardo DiCaprio tried to blend in with a Dodgers cap, Tom Brady kept it casual in a sweatsuit at Marco Polo airport, and Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King hopped in a water taxi together. Models Vittoria Ceretti, the Jenner sisters, Usher and even Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have all been snapped cruising the canals toward lavish welcome parties, where Lauren stunned in a corseted dress.
For Jenna, though, the logistical nightmare of protests, press and paparazzi means a hard pass. She says the backlash against Bezos and Sánchez makes her “feel a little badly,” but she’s content sipping sweet tea back in the States. Anyway, that’s the vibe—do with it what you will.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and E! News (NBCUniversal), Jenna & Friends episode (June 26), direct quotes from Jenna Bush Hager and Maria Shriver
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
