More to the story. Jeff Bezos was having an affair with his friend Patrick Whitesell’s wife, Lauren Sánchez, during his marriage to MacKenzie Bezos.
According to the National Enquirer, Jeff, 54, and Sánchez, 49, have been seeing each other for eight months. The outlet, which has obtained photos of the pair together across five states, claims that Jeff and Sánchez’s respective spouses were made aware of their relationship in the fall.
The Amazon CEO and MacKenzie share four children: three sons and a daughter. Sánchez, meanwhile, has two kids with Whitesell, a WME/IMG agent. (The former Extra host also has a 17-year-old son with ex Tony Gonzalez.)
Jeff, Whitesell and Sánchez were photographed together while promoting Manchester by the Sea in 2016, which starred Whitesell’s client Michelle Williams. The Academy Award-winning film was distributed by Amazon.
Jeff and MacKenzie announced their divorce in a joint statement on Wednesday, January 9, following a trial separation.
“We want to make people aware of a development in our lives. As our family and close friends know, after a long period of loving exploration and trial separation, we have decided to divorce and continue our shared lives as friends,” the statement, which was shared on Twitter, read. “We feel incredibly lucky to have found each other and deeply grateful for every one of the years we have been married to each other. If we had known we would separate after 25 years, we would do it all again.”
The joint statement concluded: “We’ve had such a great life together as a married couple, and we also see wonderful futures ahead, as parents, friends, partners in ventures and projects, and as individuals pursuing ventures and adventures. Though the labels might be different, we remain a family, and we remain cherished friends.”
For more details on the affair, pick up the new issue of the National Enquirer, on newsstands Thursday, January 10.