Jeff Bezos's Affair Fueled Amazon's NYC Breakup, Mayor Suggests

NEW YORK — Amazon's local supporters might have reason to be upset about Jeff Bezos's alleged extramarital escapades. Mayor Bill de Blasio suggested Friday that the Amazon CEO's well-publicized affair may have played a role in his company canceling plans for a New York City headquarters.

"I think we could all say that unusual things were happening within the Amazon family at that moment in time, and that was said politely," the mayor said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "There was clearly some unusual factors happening."

De Blasio did not get specific about what he thought those factors were. Pressed by panelist Donny Deutsch on whether he thought Bezos's affair had something to do with the stunning reversal, the Democratic mayor added, "I only am saying it was an unusual environment."

"I said it was an unusual environment, meaning there were a lot of cross-pressures, there was a lot of things going on," said de Blasio, a Democrat.

Amazon announced on Valentine's Day that it would not set up a sprawling campus in Long Island City. The project was expected to create at least 25,000 jobs in exchange for about $3 billion in incentives, which many officials and activists aggressively opposed.

The shocking move came as a sordid story involving Bezos, a TV personality, the National Enquirer and alleged extortion unraveled in the news following the executive's January announcement that he and his wife, MacKenzie, were divorcing.

The Enquirer published purported text messages between Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, a TV host with whom the world's richest man was reportedly having an affair. Then Bezos accused the tabloid's publisher, American Media Inc., of "extortion and blackmail" for allegedly threatening to publish intimate photos of him unless he publicly denied knowing the firm's coverage was politically motivated.

Bezos made the allegation in a blog post on Feb. 7, a week before the company said it was canceling its New York City plans. But the only specific reason Amazon cited in the announcement was politicians who "have made it clear that they oppose our presence."

The "Morning Joe" hosts tried unsuccessfully tried to get de Blasio to clarify what factors he thought played into Amazon's decision. The mayor accused the online retail giant of abandoning the city without trying to work out the concerns at play.

"The facts are a decision was made very arbitrarily," the mayor said. "We had an agreement, the agreement was moving forward and suddenly it wasn’t. That's all I'm saying."

An Amazon spokeswoman declined to comment on de Blasio's suggestion that the Bezos affair had something to do with its decision.