The Two Smear Attacks against Jeff Bezos and His Partner
Jeff Bezos doesn’t tweet much.
On July 14, he proclaimed that, “Our former President showed tremendous grace and courage” after being shot.
On November 6, shortly after spiking a WaPo editorial describing how unfit Trump is to be President, Bezos congratulated “our 45th and now 47th President on an extraordinary political comeback and decisive victory.”
On November 21, Bezos debunked Elon Musk’s claim that Bezos, “was telling everyone that @realDonaldTrump would lose for sure, so they should sell all their Tesla and SpaceX stock.” “100% not true,” Bezos replied, without noting how Elon had conflated Trump’s success with his own, including the rocket company that directly competes with Bezos’ own spaceship project.
By December 20, Bezos had found common cause with his rival. Both shifting people from the “low productivity” government sector to the “high productivity” private sector and deregulation “results in greatly increased prosperity,” the richest man in the world said. “Both of these are correct and the first is widely under appreciated,” the second richest man replied. Neither clarified whether the “greatly increased prosperity” in question was their own, or that of the people out o f their secure government job.
When Bezos RTed Bill Ackman’s explanation of why a New York Post story claiming” Jeff Bezos to marry fiancée Lauren Sanchez in lavish $600M Aspen wedding next weekend” was not credible. “Unless you are buying each of your guests a house, you can’t spend this much money,” then, it was just his fifth tweet since February.
The owner of the Washington Post engaged in a bit of press criticism in that tweet, apparently denying not just that he’s dropping $600M on a party, but that the party would happen this week at all (I believe the date of the purported wedding has now passed with no wedding).
Furthermore, this whole thing is completely false — none of this is happening. The old adage “don’t believe everything you read” is even more true today than it ever has been. Now lies can get ALL the way around the world before the truth can get its pants on. So be careful out there folks and don’t be gullible.
Will be interesting to see if all the outlets that “covered” and re-reported on this issue a correction when it comes and goes and doesn’t happen.
Bezos — whose rag (according to a Will Lewis interview with Ben Smith) specifically pointed to brainless dick pic sniffing about Hunter Biden that didn’t correct WaPo’s past errors to rebut claims of bias — believed he’d get “corrections” to salacious stories from Daily Mail and NY Post of the kind that made Hunter Biden dick pics A Thing.
Let me state that more clearly. A man whose newspaper chose to respond to political pressure by letting the Daily Mail and NYPost and Fox News serve as assignment editors for his journalists demanded that the Daily Mail and NYPost adhere to a higher standard than the still-uncorrected WaPo.
That’s why I decided to revisit this incident after watching this exchange, about the problems with traditional journalistic efforts to achieve objectivity in the face of asymmetric approaches to truth.
Bezos, of course, tried to explain his decision to intervene in the content of his rag (by spiking the Kamala Harris endorsement) by suggesting WaPo simply isn’t being realistic about perceptions of bias, then adding to perceptions of bias by failing to disclose all the conflicts that might have led him to curry favor with Trump.
In the annual public surveys about trust and reputation, journalists and the media have regularly fallen near the very bottom, often just above Congress. But in this year’s Gallup poll, we have managed to fall below Congress. Our profession is now the least trusted of all. Something we are doing is clearly not working.
[snip]
Likewise with newspapers. We must be accurate, and we must be believed to be accurate. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but we are failing on the second requirement. Most people believe the media is biased. Anyone who doesn’t see this is paying scant attention to reality, and those who fight reality lose. Reality is an undefeated champion. It would be easy to blame others for our long and continuing fall in credibility (and, therefore, decline in impact), but a victim mentality will not help. Complaining is not a strategy. We must work harder to control what we can control to increase our credibility.
Weeks later, after sucking up to Trump post-election, Bezos’ rag buried news of the unfitness of Trump’s nominees behind 7 pieces on the Hunter Biden pardon.
The continued reliance on dick pic sniffing to convince right wingers the WaPo is not biased is particularly rich [cough] coming from Bezos, newly targeted by gossip from the Daily Mail picked up by NYP.
Bezos, of all people, should have known better than to exploit a guy targeted with revenge porn by hostile nation-states and political partisans. In 2019, the NY Enquirer, while under Non-Prosecution Agreement for its past Kill and Capture activities, tried to extort him with … dick pics. As a Dylan Howard email described when trying to get Bezos to call off an investigation into Saudi ties in all this, the rag that had intervened in 2016 to help elect Trump had ten damning pictures disclosing what was then an affair with Lauren Sanchez while Bezos was still married.
In addition to the “below the belt selfie — otherwise colloquially known as a ‘d*ck pick’” — The Enquirer obtained a further nine images. These include:
· Mr. Bezos face selfie at what appears to be a business meeting.
· Ms. Sanchez response — a photograph of her smoking a cigar in what appears to be a simulated oral sex scene.
· A shirtless Mr. Bezos holding his phone in his left hand — while wearing his wedding ring. He’s wearing either tight black cargo pants or shorts — and his semi-erect manhood is penetrating the zipper of said garment.
When Bezos preemptively exposed that effort (an effort that mysteriously didn’t turn into charges for a violation of National Enquirer’s past NPA), he attributed the attack to his ownership of the WaPo. But, the same guy spiking endorsements of Trump’s opponent and relying on dick pic sniffing to stave off claims of bias said then, his stewardship of the WaPo would remain unswerving.
Here’s a piece of context: My ownership of the Washington Post is a complexifier for me. It’s unavoidable that certain powerful people who experience Washington Post news coverage will wrongly conclude I am their enemy.
President Trump is one of those people, obvious by his many tweets. Also, The Post’s essential and unrelenting coverage of the murder of its columnist Jamal Khashoggi is undoubtedly unpopular in certain circles.
(Even though The Post is a complexifier for me, I do not at all regret my investment. The Post is a critical institution with a critical mission. My stewardship of The Post and my support of its mission, which will remain unswerving, is something I will be most proud of when I’m 90 and reviewing my life, if I’m lucky enough to live that long, regardless of any complexities it creates for me.)
It turns out, as happened the last time someone tried to start a scandal about Bezos’ relationship with Sanchez, the second richest man in the world didn’t have to rely on journalistic ethics to combat the dick pic sniffing.
Both the Daily Mail and the NYP prominently (including in a blurb added to the NYP video, above) added Bezos’ denial to their original stories.
Sources told the DailyMail.com that the billionaire Amazon founder, 60, and his ex-TV news anchor fiancée, 55, had bought out ritzy sushi restaurant Matsuhisa in the Colorado ski town for December 26 or 27, and have their nuptials planned for Saturday 28.
Three sources told DailyMail.com they had been made aware of the Bezos wedding taking place on December 28.
However, after the Daily Mail published the story, Bezos’s team, denied the wedding was going ahead next weekend.
The billionaire took to X on Sunday to slam the wedding claims as ‘completely false’.
‘This whole thing is completely false – none of this is happening,’ he posted on X. ‘The old adage “don’t believe everything you read” is even more true today than it ever has been.’
And by the time I returned to this exchange on Xitter, the link Ackman had RTed had been disabled, as if Xitter had [gasp!] throttled a link to a NYP story!
It didn’t even take the date of the alleged marriage passing for everyone to have cleaned up a story about the second richest man in the world!
Must be nice not to have to rely on corrections.
The problem is so, so much worse than an asymmetric relationship with the truth.
But it has a happy ending for defense contractor Jeff Bezos, whose Blue Origin rocket company was the most obvious hint of payback for his sycophancy, launched yesterday. Bezos posted rocket launch porn on his account at rival rocket man Elon’s site, and accepted the congratulations of numerous people, including his rocket man rival.
We are so beyond the stratosphere of symmetrical relationships to the truth.
So amazing to see a real journalist scratching the surface. Thank you!
The real story, totally suppressed by the Jeff Bezos Protection Racket is Bezos’ proven Perjury to cover-up Lauren Sanchez’ false allegation of incestuous childhood sexual abuse – and to cover-up their other lies, crimes, and misdeeds. All of it has been exposed in my lawsuit in L.A. Superior Court (24SMCV04067). But not one media outlet has covered the proven allegations. Not one.
Welcome to emptywheel. Hope it’s just a coincidence your username is Sanchez.
Coincidence? Unfortunately not:
Parties:
BEZOS JEFF – Defendant
BIRD TERRY – Defendant
BIRD TERRY WILLIAM – Attorney for Defendant
ISAACSON WILLIAM – Defendant
ROCOS OLIVER – Defendant
ROCOS OLIVER – Attorney for Defendant
SANCHEZ LAUREN – Defendant
SANCHEZ MICHAEL – Plaintiff
https://www.lacourt.org/casesummary/ui/casesummary.aspx?casetype=civil
This appears to be the latest lawsuit by a Micheal Sanchez, brother of Lauren.
And related to the reference in the post to the 2019 Enquirer piece
“ Hollywood talent agent Sanchez, 56, claimed that he was defamed by AMI and co when they named him as the source for the tip and materials that led to the story of the affair being broken in The National Enquirer on January 9, 2019”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12374435/amp/Lauren-Sanchezs-brother-Michael-FAILS-bid-sue-National-Enquirer-publisher-defaming-claim-leaked-story-affair-Jeff-Bezos.html
I had thought I was incestually abused until a stunning memory backed up by certain facts made me aware it was the family who babysat me who were the abusers. I wish you luck in your quest.
From Bezos : “Likewise with newspapers. We must be accurate, and we must be believed to be accurate. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but we are failing on the second requirement. Most people believe the media is biased. ”
Maybe he should just try to be accurate and not worry about the perception of it. After all, since really getting ramped up in the late 80’s with Rush Limbaugh, the right wing has spent billions on 24 hour a day saturation coverage claiming the media is biased and not to be trusted. All while lying to their audience the entire time.
A far too large percentage of Americans has been conditioned to disbelieve any news that doesn’t sound exactly like a Limbaugh monologue or Tucker Carlson propaganda piece. That group will never trust the media or even their own lying eyes.
Who cares what they think. Just report accurately.
This is really an excellent point namely that just reporting the truth should be enough and enough with the modernist or I should say postmodernist review that truth is tied to story which is tied to a side and to an identity and the corollary that the truth and the stories we are told about ourselves and histories made up by the victor. My guess is most even top rate journalists have been swayed by the notion that they have an internal bias and therefore don’t really themselves know what the truth is that they’re supposed to be reporting on. It is admittedly difficult to understand that distinction especially if you’re being paid not to…
George Soros, one of the best independent journalists of the 20th century, ends his memoirs with a conversation he once had with William Allen White, editor of the Emporia Gazette of Kansas:
“As his final word, Mr White said: ‘The facts, fairly and honestly presented,’ and I added, more in the nature of a question than a statement, the words: ‘and truth will take care of itself?’
“White leaped at these words. ‘That’s it,’ he said, ‘that is our formula: “The facts fairly and honestly presented; truth will take care of itself.”‘
“I have thought of these words for more than forty years. I know of no better rule for all newspapers of the world.”
-30-
I keep on repeating this whenever this issue comes up. Not that it does much good as who remembers George Seldes or William Allen White these days?
You got his name right the second time.
Pro Publica has picked up that baton and is running with it pretty aggressively. When I dropped my WaPo subscription, I added the same amount to my PP monthly donation.
Sounds like you want to bring bubble gum to a knife fight.
At best, the press reports facts, and they often do that badly. Sometimes they bury it, say, behind seven articles on dick pics. They more often report them without necessary proportion or context.
But, “If it’s truth you’re interested in, Dr. Tyree’s philosophy class is right down the hall.”
“We are so beyond the stratosphere of symmetrical relationships to the truth.”
A truth may be that Bezos did not decide to buy WaPo over a burning desire for journalistic integrity to be its banner. A symmetrical truth is Musk bought Twitter and Bezos bought WaPo and the symmetry might be that neither purchase was motivated by profit expectation from the money directly spent. There is symmetry in each buying an existing venue, which is true after all.
Also, Bezos has much going with Amazon Web Services, the new CEO was promoted out of AWS, and the Pentagon buys both AWS and Azure, and there’s news about Bill Gates visiting MaL. That’s a kind of symmetry.
Moreover, relations to the truth are not constrained to symmetry. And distanced from all the alliances, visits, and nominees is JD, where a truth is cats, dogs, and Haitians did him no real or lasting harm.
Hegseth and Kennedy get press attention, JD gets time off to be with family
So sorry, Lord Jeff of Amazonia, that your ownership of a once-proud newspaper became a “complexifier” for you. Did you talk to any of the old journalists hanging around the place, Bob Woodward say, about how to reduce the “complexities” of your very special situation–by, say, letting the journalists do their work while you do yours, whatever that is?
You seem to think the rest of us should empathize with your delicate situation. But having seen those thank-you hands pressed together for Elon Musk’s “godspeed,” I feel nothing. Least of all the inclination to keep paying for the paper you wrecked.
Jeff’s complexities abound. WaPo was found online (I search, but do not subscribe) to have two items about the MAGA – H-1B head bumping. Web addresses close to each other, note date differences.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/12/27/h-1b-visas-elon-musk-trump-immigration/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/12/28/trump-h1b-musk-immigration-debate/
What goes undisclosed, AWS is big in tech so Jeff hires/doesn’t hire H-1B talent? Seems it might matter.
Then, did a web search = aws layoffs
There were returned items, using duckduckgo search, none by WaPo.
On a 5 things to know, https://www.crn.com/news/cloud/amazon-s-aws-layoffs-5-things-to-know-about-devastating-cuts?page=2 — the reporting is that AWS was reticent about layoff detail. And overall Amazon employee demographics. What I wanted to find, was AWS laying off H-1B people, or keeping them and laying off others. Simple enough question, yes/no?
In effect WaPo is reporting (w/o disclosure of AWS impacts), arguably more favorable than not, for H-1B faction, vs Loomer and Coulter being critical. It’s all involving Jeff’s money, and reticence where a bias of WaPo could be inferred – Jeff paying the piper and calling the tune.
It is OT but then, not OT. Jeff’s money management, vs personal life.
From what ex-WaPo media critic Margaret Sullivan has written Bezos did not interfere with the journalists, at least not until he killed the Harris endorsement. Sullivan is highly respected so I believe her. But what Bezos did do was hire Will Lewis away from Murdoch to be his new publisher. What surprised me about that hire wasn’t that Bezos wanted someone from Murdoch world but that he hired Lewis in spite of the overwhelming evidence that Lewis had ordered the destruction of evidence — millions of emails that the court had ordered be preserved — in the UK phone hacking case against the Murdoch Org. Lewis doesn’t even deny doing that he just tried to pin the blame on ex-PM Gordon Brown. That was blatant perverting the course of justice in UK speak.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jul/31/gordon-brown-tom-watson-news-international-william-lewis-rupert-murdoch
Lewis also tried to kill NPR’s David Folkenflik’s story about his destroying evidence as well as one by the WaPo’s Sally Buzbee. He failed in both instances but Buzbee is no longer at the WaPo.
The spotlight will soon be shown on these facts as Prince Harry’s phone hacking lawsuit goes to court. Of course that assumes the US media will bother covering it.
I too admire Margaret Sullivan. Notice that she is no longer at the Post. There are many ways of interfering with journalists; hiring a Murdoch scofflaw (in the process supplanting more-qualified internal candidates) from overseas might just be one of the most effective.
Right up there with stuffing a presidential endorsement.
The dick pic story, and Bezos’ counterattack against the Enquirer’s publisher, inspired perhaps my all-time favorite headline in the NYP:
BEZOS EXPOSES PECKER
On the MAGA – H-1B dispute, Bannon has been clear –
https://www.mediaite.com/news/watch-bannon-calls-h1b-support-a-dark-contempt-of-americans-just-hours-before-trump-publicly-supports-program/
also – https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/steve-bannon-slams-scam-h1b-visas-as-loomer-urges-gop-to-protect-trump-from-elon-musk/ar-AA1wDqsV
Of interest Elon is up front about his stance. Bezos, MIA. WaPo, best as I could find online, MIA on Jeff/AWS conflict of interest, seemingly keeping a light touch, but leaning toward H-1B favoring – but that is reading between the lines.
Bannon is a self-identified anarchist. Here, he’s succoring the base by sticking to a pure anti-immigrant stance.
CEOs and billionaires tend not to be up front about much of anything. Applying that description to Elmo seems credulous. That the WaPo hides Bezos’s many potential conflicts of interest was part of Marcy’s post: it added “to perceptions of bias by failing to disclose all the conflicts that might have led him [Bezos] to curry favor with Trump.”
‘. . . shifting people from the “low productivity” government sector to the “high productivity” private sector and deregulation “results in greatly increased prosperity,” the richest man in the world said . . . Neither clarified whether the “greatly increased prosperity” in question was their own, or that of the people out of their secure government job . . .’
I’m sure an Aztec priest could clarify the meaning of sacrifice within their cosmology for everyone on the way to the temple. Don’t worry! It’s to keep the sun moving across the sky and preserve the earth! We have to feed Huitzilopochtli with human hearts and blood! But, instead, we have these two dorks, Bezos and Musk, whom we are supposed to take like god-kings. We are their “human resources”, so we have to listen to their mewling, sterile arguments as we walk up the side of the pyramid. We are not Sisyphus, but Musk and Bezos consume us, anyway, a “burnt offering” for “greatly increased prosperity”. The more you invest, the more the profit!
“Where has God gone?” he cried. “I shall tell you. We have killed him – you and I. We are his murderers. But how have we done this? How were we able to drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What did we do when we unchained the earth from its sun? . . . Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we not ourselves become gods simply to be worthy of it?.” That’s Nietzsche in “The Gay Science” on the absurd totalitarian nihilism of modernity. We’ve killed God but maintain the farce we have not, so Musk and Bezos represent a kind of anti-religious prosperity gospel or Providence based on nothing, where justice occurs solely through the operations of capital, so it is very similar to Marxist-Leninism where the mechanism is class struggle.
I can’t add anything to your post other than applause for a very graphic presentation of this situation.
We might have to disagree about that.
The Department of Defense contract announcements show only 3 contracts for Blue Origin.
20 October 2018, $500 M Air Force contract for expendable launch vehicles, $109 M initially committed.
Blue Origin didn’t get a follow-on contract, so left some (maybe a lot of) money on the table.
23 Jan 2024, $17 M Air Force contract for integration studies.
13 June 2024, potential $5.6 B Air Force contract to combination of Blue Origin, SpaceX, and ULA (Boeing-Lockheed), initial commitment of $8 M.
Amazon potentially draws more government funds for cloud services, e.g., this 25 Nov 2024 Army contract.
The New York Times reported 2 weeks ago on Blue Origin’s space business.
Typo in headline: “agianst” should be “against.”
[Moderator’s note: fixed, thanks. Head edited but the URL will not change to prevent misdirection of traffic. /~Rayne]
WaPo’s paywall is annoying and obtrusive, even for subscribers. I dropped my subscription years ago. Mackenzie Bezos is doing God’s work. If all these so-called Christians in the MAGA movement were really Christians, they would applaud her wealth redistribution efforts. Read the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament – the early Christians WERE communists. Someone should redistribute Elon’s wealth, since he uses it on such foolish things – like spending a quarter of a billion dollars to get a 78 year old felon with severe cognitive problems elected President of the United States. The hideous consequences of the Citizen United SCOTUS decision loom.