Didn’t see it coming. Patrick Whitesell was completely shocked to learn that his wife, Lauren Sánchez, was having an affair with his friend Jeff Bezos, who was also married, a source tells Us Weekly exclusively.
“Patrick was totally blindsided. He had no idea how serious the affair was or how long it was going on for,” the insider tells Us after National Enquirer broke the news of the cheating scandal. “Patrick had no idea she was having an affair with Jeff.”
The source explains that Whitesell, 53, and Sánchez, 49, “were having problems in their marriage for the last year,” but “were trying to work things out.”
A second source confirms to Us that the co-CEO of WME “introduced Lauren to Jeff and suggested they work together on a documentary.”
Whitesell and the Amazon CEO, 54, have known each other for years and worked closely together in 2016 while promoting Manchester by the Sea, which starred Whitesell’s client Michelle Williams. The Oscar-winning film was distributed by Amazon.
Bezos and his estranged wife of 25 years, MacKenzie, announced their plans to divorce on Wednesday, January 9. “After a long period of loving exploration and trial separation, we have decided to divorce and continue our shared lives as friends,” the businessman wrote on Twitter. “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.”
Bezos is considered to be the world’s richest person with a net worth of $144 billion. He and the novelist, 48, were married in September 1993 and share three sons and a daughter.
Whitesell and Sánchez, meanwhile, tied the knot in August 2005 and later welcomed two children, a boy and a girl. The former Extra host also has a 17-year-old son with ex Tony Gonzalez.
