Watch: Jeff Bezos rushed by protester on stage at re:Mars conference DATE: 2024-09-21 03:33:06
Shed no tears for Jeff Bezos.
The Platonic ideal of an out-of-touch rich man was slightly inconvenienced Thursday when a protester confronted the billionaire king on stage at Amazon's re:Mars conference in Las Vegas.
The protester, who was quickly ushered off stage, addressed the CEO directly. The audio is a little rough, but it sounds like she's asking Bezos to commit to stopping Amazon's alleged engagement in animal cruelty.
"Jeff, please," she can be heard saying. "You're the richest man on this planet, you can help the animals."
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Bezos, meanwhile, laughed it off. "Do you have a response for that," he asked the interviewer — to a hearty laugh from the Las Vegas crowd.
Conference tickets cost $1,999.
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According to the conference's website, the goal of the event is to "[bring] together leading minds to advance a golden age of innovation."
You know, innovation. Like good working conditions and privacy.
UPDATE: June 6, 2019, 12:06 p.m. PDT: Direct Action Everywhere, an animal rights organization that has made headlines for rescuing sick and abused animals from factory farms, has claimed responsibility for the protest.
"During the 4-day re:MARS event, an activist with the animal rights network Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) jumped on stage with Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, attempting to offer him a flower and asking him to speak out against what DxE says is animal cruelty at an Amazon chicken supplier, as well as the felony prosecution of whistleblowers exposing animal abuse at that supplier," reads a press release from the organization.
"The activist, Priya Sawhney, cites grisly undercover footage of sick and starving birdsat an Amazon chicken supplier in Petaluma, CA (Petaluma Poultry), which DxE says amounts to criminal animal cruelty."
The DxE press release includes video of the protest.
"Animal abuse is the crime here, not animal rescue," Sawhney is quoted as saying in the release. "It’s time Amazon and Jeff Bezos take a stand for transparency, rather than actively suppressing the truth."
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