It’s been a tumultuous week Amazon.

from a screwed up email Amazon prematurely announced another round of massive layoffs in response to scrutiny over its $75 million investment in a documentary about the first lady, as it releases its quarterly earnings report next week amid deafening noise.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and one of the company’s top entertainment executives joined CEOs, politicians and celebrities for an event at the White House on Saturday private showing “Melania”, produced Produced by Amazon MGM Pictures and Melania Trump.

The event was heavily criticized for appearing tone-deaf, as it took place just hours after the announcement by federal immigration officials. shot Alex Pretti, an urgent care nurse in Minneapolis, was the second such fatal incident in less than three weeks.

While most of the biggest names in tech have remained silent on the matter, many in the industry express anger and urges other members of the tech community to publicly condemn the killing of Pretty and the previous shooting of Renee Goode, and President Donald Trump’s Immigration policy.

apple CEO Tim Cook later attended the screening Make a statement Calls for “de-escalation” following the latest violence made no mention of the two fatal shootings. Amazon has not yet commented on the matter.

Amazon’s relationship with the Melania film, which officially opens Friday, is awkward enough given the political tensions in Minneapolis and elsewhere. The price tag raises further questions about Amazon’s agenda and whether the company is trying to curry favor with the president.

“I had no part in it. That was something my wife and I did together,” President Trump told reporters at the film’s premiere in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. “I think it’s a really important movie. I think it’s going to be really important. It shows life in the White House. It’s actually a big deal.”

An Amazon-MGM spokesperson said in an email, “We licensed the film for one reason only — because we thought our customers would love it.”

Early box office receipts for the documentary have been weak, with the film expected to take in about $5 million in its opening weekend in the United States and Canada. ice hockey news The report cited forecast data from a national research group.

The timing is even worse for Amazon, which has also agreed to stream a three-part documentary series on Prime Video, as it launched another round of massive layoffs on Wednesday, affecting about 16,000 corporate employees. The company gave up 14,000 employees Last October.

The news was preempted by an email accidentally sent to cloud employees a day earlier, which mentioned “organizational change” and a post from Beth Galetti, Amazon’s head of human resources.

The layoffs are part of a broader effort by Jassy to cut costs and “eliminate bureaucracy,” as the company also invests heavily in artificial intelligence. some employees previously told CNBC Cost cuts and rolling layoffs hurt morale.

in a Reddit Amazon employee forum, some users question The company’s rationale for trying to save money while investing in “Melania.”

“With $75 million, we could have given each of our laid-off employees about $4,500,” one user wrote. “But instead we spent the money on a ridiculous Melania movie. Shame on you for working at Amazon.”

Analysts at Citizens said this week they expect Amazon to cut 30,000 jobs to save up to $8 billion in costs in 2026.

In a segment on “The Daily Show” that aired Thursday, host Desi Lydic called It was a “money grab” and was criticized Jeff Bezosfounder and former CEO of Amazon.

“Why would Jeff Bezos, a billionaire who has extensive business dealings with a government led by a bribing president with a reputation for corruption, pay exorbitant amounts for a documentary about Melania?” Lidick said. “Well, let me think.”

Filmmaker Julie Cohen, who has worked with Amazon on documentaries, said: new york times Melania’s price tag was unusual and suggested the company was “using their money to buy other things.”

After coming under repeated attack from Trump during his first term, Bezos warmed up to the president. He dined with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort and attended Trump’s inauguration a year ago. Meanwhile, Amazon Donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund help pay Trump’s $300 million ballroom renovation project.

This week, there’s more drama in Bezos’ wider universe following multiple media reports report The Washington Post, owned by Bezos since 2013, is preparing for massive layoffs across its newsroom, with sports, local and international divisions expected to be affected.

The paper’s White House team sent a letter to Bezos describing the importance of the teams’ work and telling their boss they needed to “collaborate with all corners of the newsroom.”

The company is set to report fourth-quarter results on Thursday, wrapping up earnings season for tech giants (although NVIDIA Report later this month).

Analysts polled by London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) said Amazon’s revenue is expected to rise about 13% to $211.3 billion. The expansion is driven by Amazon Web Services and digital advertising, which are expected to grow at around 22%, according to FactSet.

Analysts at KeyBanc Capital Markets this week raised their price targets on the stock and maintained a buy recommendation, in part due to accelerating growth driven by AWS. recent transactions Together with OpenAI. Amazon is now In talks Investment up to US$50 billion open artificial intelligenceCNBC confirmed this week.

Amazon is increasing spending on data centers as it races to catch up with rivals in artificial intelligence. In the earnings report, capital spending is likely to rise 24% from a year ago to nearly $34.5 billion, according to LSEG.

KeyBanc analysts said that while rising costs will impact profitability, “we believe Amazon will continue to seek further efficiencies across the organization to minimize the potential margin impact.”

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