Jeff Bezos pulled $20M Super Bowl ad for Blue Origin due to girlfriend's involvement: Report
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos decided not to air an expensive Super Bowl commercial for his private space aviation firm, Blue Origin, because of his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez’s involvement in its production, according to a report on Monday.
The Blue Origin commercial had production costs of between $15 million and $20 million, sources with knowledge of the situation told The New York Post’s Page Six. Sanchez, a former television host and helicopter pilot who Bezos began dating amid divorce proceedings from his longtime wife, MacKenzie Bezos, is said to have helped shoot aerial footage for the commercial.
“There was talk that he spent so much money on it because he wanted to be close to her. But the speculation is that he pulled the ad because it would be embarrassing because Lauren worked on the ads,” a source told Page Six.
Amazon representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.
Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos mutually announced their intention to divorce on social media in January. The couple reportedly does not have a prenuptial agreement, meaning that they could split Bezos’ $137 billion personal fortune.
Bezos reportedly replaced the planned Blue Origin spot with an ad for the Washington Post, the newspaper he has owned since 2013. Amazon also aired a Super Bowl commercial for its “Alexa” voice assistant platform.
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CBS charged more than $5 million for a 30-second ad spot during Super Bowl LIII.