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By Marni Rose McFall
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Following news that The Washington Post is laying off hundreds of employees, in what has been dubbed 'among the darkest days' of the newspaper’s history,” Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder and owner of The Post, has come under fire online.
Journalists, comics, cultural commentators and members of Congress have called out Amazon’s recent purchase of Melania, the documentary about first lady Melania Trump. Amazon paid $40 million for the title and a further $35 million for the marketing of it.
The figures have come under scrutiny, as has the money involved in other Bezos assets, including his private yacht, as people argue that money should have been spent on saving the 150-year-old paper. Bezos purchased The Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million.
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Why It Matters
The layoffs at The Post will impact one-third of the company and were announced on Wednesday by the paper’s executive editor, Matt Murray, who called the move painful but necessary.
Entire sections, including sports and books, have been shuttered, as have several foreign bureaus, and all Middle East correspondents and editors have been laid off. Those laid off included journalists who are currently reporting from war zones. The paper’s Ukraine correspondent, Lizzie Johnson, shared in a post on X: “I was just laid off by The Washington Post in the middle of a warzone. I have no words. I'm devastated.” Johnson’s post has been viewed 11 million times as of reporting.
The layoffs had been expected and came after the newsroom publicly urged Bezos to reverse course on the expected downsizing in a campaign known as #SaveThePost. But while layoffs had been anticipated, the scale of them reportedly came as a shock.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the layoffs are “part of a broader reprehensible pattern in which corporate decisions are hollowing out newsrooms across the country,” in a speech to members of the Washington Press Club Foundation.
The layoffs come at a difficult time for news organizations, with the Associated Press reporting in October 2025 that at least 136 newspapers closed that year.
What To Know
In a post on Instagram, journalist and author Nicholas Kristoff wrote: “Bezos was willing to spend $75 million on a Melania documentary to curry favor with the Trump administration, but unwilling to keep a vital, independent newspaper in our nation’s capital.”
Representative Greg Casar, a Texas Democrat, wrote on X: “After paying $40M for the Melania movie, Bezos is firing hundreds of Washington Post reporters who tell us actual facts. All while turning the editorial board into a billionaire-defense operation. Too often, the billionaires who control our biggest media outlets are selling out our country.”
The Melania documentary had already proved controversial. The film, which follows the first lady in the lead-up to President Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration, had the strongest recorded start of any documentary in more than a decade. But some criticized the timing of its release, and backlash was directed at the project for Brett Ratner’s role as director.
Ratner was ostracized in Hollywood following allegations of sexual harassment or misconduct by six women in 2017, which he has denied. The money invested by Amazon in the project has been a continued topic of discussion, with the discourse getting louder in the wake of the Post layoffs.
Criticism has been leveled at Bezos’ personal wealth and assets. Peter Baker, The New York Times Chief White House correspondent, outlined some of Bezos’ assets in a post on X: “Jeff Bezos wealth in 2024: $194 billion. Jeff Bezos wealth in 2025: $215 billion. Jeff Bezos wealth today: $249.4 billion. Net increase in Bezos wealth since 2024: $55.4 billion. Cost of Bezos’ 417-foot superyacht: $500 million. Amazon investment in "Melania": $75 million. Original Bezos purchase price of the Washington Post in 2013: $250 million. Bezos net worth in 2013: $25.2 billion. Net increase in Bezos wealth since buying the Post: $224.2 billion. Last reported annual losses of Post: $100 million. Number of years Bezos could absorb those losses with what he makes in a single week: 5.” As of reporting, Baker's post has been viewed 2.4 million times.
Another voice sharing criticism online was Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats. In a post on X viewed 2.6 million times, he wrote: “If Jeff Bezos could afford to spend $75 million on the Melania movie & $500 million for a yacht to sail off to his $55 million wedding to give his wife a $5 million ring, please don't tell me he needed to fire one-third of the Washington Post staff. Democracy dies in oligarchy.”
What People Are Saying
Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, on X: “A devastating day for the paper of record in our nation's capital. Bezos just spent $40M sucking up to Trump with Amazon's 'Melania', but is now cutting a third of @WashigntonPost staff – including much of the international & local teams – for "budget" reasons? The corporate takeover of media is a threat to our democracy & the delivery of the truth to the American people."
Marty Baron, The Post's former executive editor, in a statement released on Wednesday: “This ranks among the darkest days in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organizations… The Washington Post’s ambitions will be sharply diminished, its talented and brave staff will be further depleted, and the public will be denied the ground-level, fact-based reporting in our communities and around the world that is needed more than ever.”
Comedian Ginny Hogan, on Instagram: “So I guess democracy actually died not in darkness, but on a Zoom call where you finally admit you’d rather spend $75 million on a Melania Trump documentary than on paying journalists’ salaries.”
Don Van Natta Jr., author and senior writer for ESPN, on X: “The Washington Post lost $77 million in 2023. Jeff Bezos just spent at least $75 million on an infomercial named “Melania” — $40 million paid to the President and First Lady. Priorities.”
What Happens Next
Backlash directed at Bezos is likely to continue as people continue to react to the layoffs at The Post.
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