Lauren Sánchez's Brother Was Axed From Bezos Wedding: Inside Their Estranged Relationship

The controversial way in which Jeff Bezos kickstarted his romance with Lauren Sanchez Bezos affected her relationship with her brother, Michael Sanchez. Speaking to Page Six in 2019, Michael shared that Lauren had informed him of her affair with the Amazon founder in 2018 and sought to arrange a meeting between the two men. Although her elder brother was initially against the idea because he believed it was a casual fling, he eventually gave in to the requests of his little sister, whom "he practically raised," according to a family friend. After the first meeting, Michael realized that Jeff and Lauren's relationship was serious and felt responsible for protecting their happiness. 

Then, in January 2019, around the same time that Jeff and Lauren's relationship became official, The National Enquirer broke the news that their relationship started as an affair. In addition to sharing the explicit texts that the pair had shared while they were married to other people, the article also had descriptions of NSFW photos that Jeff had sent. In January 2020, The National Enquirer's parent company, A.M.I., released a statement confirming Michael was their only informant.

Then, In February 2020, the New York Times reported that had received $200,000 for sharing Jeff and Lauren's texts with the publication. In a Vanity Fair interview recorded in February 2020, Michael addressed the controversy, saying, "I'm not saying I didn't do something." He continued, "Until I go under oath, what I can tell you now is that ever since April 20, when I met Jeff, my only goal has been to protect Jeff and Lauren." However, she understandably didn't see things the same way.

In February 2020, Bloomberg reported that Michael Sanchez was suing Jeff Bezos and his longtime security consultant, Gavin de Becker, for defamation. In his filing, he claimed that Bezos and de Becker had falsely informed the media that he had shared the Blue Origin founder's racy photos with The National Enquirer. As the New York Times reported, Lauren Sanchez Bezos responded to the lawsuit through a statement shared by her lawyer, writing, "He secretly provided my most personal information to The National Enquirer — a deep and unforgivable betrayal. My family is hurting over this new baseless and untrue lawsuit, and we truly hope my brother finds peace." 

A judge ultimately ruled in Jeff's favor and ordered Michael to cover about $218,000 of the billionaire's $1.7 million legal fees from the defamation lawsuit, per Business Insider. However, even with the lawsuit out of the way, the Sanchez siblings' relationship didn't find greener pastures. In a June 2025 interview with The Times, Michael said that he hadn't seen his little sister in person since 2019 and hadn't heard a word from her since 2020. 

Additionally, the Hollywood talent manager claimed that their mother, Eleanor, had tried to mend the relationship between them by having a chat with Lauren. However, Eleanor's meeting with her daughter seemingly didn't go very well because the former Fox News anchor stopped communicating with her afterward. Unsurprisingly, neither Michael nor Eleanor was invited to Lauren and Jeff's lavish wedding, which was lowkey boring for their celebrity guests. However, Lauren's younger half-sister, Elena Blair. who is a natural beauty, and her brother, Paul Sanchez, attended the ceremony.