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The Ambani wedding guest list is stranger than fiction

Here’s a brief, previously unimaginable list of attendees you'll be seeing all over your social media feeds very soon.
12 Jul, 2024

From the start of their wedding festivities with an ‘intimate’ engagement in December to today, seven months and several events later, Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant have taken extravagance and luxury to new heights with each of their pre-wedding festivities. But apart from the overwhelming display of wealth, what has caught our eye is the guest list for their wedding, which is a rather strange array of people.

While most South Asians are no stranger to over-the-top weddings, most were left speechless at the colossal scale of the pre-wedding events; making the idea of the real thing almost unfathomable.

With the official wedding finally upon us, let’s take a little look at the guest list that is guaranteed to make you even more confused with its range of foreign politicians, business people, and celebrities.

Who’s attending

Mark Zuckerburg

This isn’t a surprise but the CEO of Facebook himself, Mark Zuckerburg, will attend the wedding with his wife Priscilla Chan.

In case you missed it, they were actually guests at one of the many pre-wedding events, specifically the 1,200-guest pre-wedding party in Jamnagar, Gujarat.

Kim and Khloe Kardashian

This one is very strange. Two of the Kardashians, Kim and Khloe, received a warm welcome when they touched down in India on Friday ahead of the big events around the corner.

How do the Kardashians know the Ambanis? Are they giving them tips on how to launch a Keeping Up With the Ambanis show?

John Cena

On Friday morning, wrestler-turned-actor John Cena landed in India and has been confirmed to attend the wedding. He recently announced his retirement from wrestling, so maybe while he’s in India he’ll line up his next gig — Bollywood.

Mike Tyson

Alongside Cena, there have been reports that renowned boxer Mike Tyson will also attend the wedding. We’d make a joke about biting ears but we aren’t sure you’d want to hear it.

Tony Blair

Former UK prime minister Tony Blair was seen arriving in Mumbai for the wedding.

Although this isn’t a big surprise, given that he has been a longtime friend of the Ambani family.

Boris Johnson

Another former British premier will be attending the event — Boris Johnson. He has just landed in India for the wedding.

David and Victoria Beckham

Multiple sources have reported that David and Victoria Beckham will also be attending the wedding, although there is no confirmation of them arriving in India.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino

The current president of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), Giannai Infantino was spotted arriving at the Mumbai airport with his family.

We’re surprised no other footballers, present or former, are on the guest list.

TikToker Julia Chafe

Possibly the most random invitee on this list is American jewellery TikToker Julia Chafe (@jewelswithjules). For months, Chafe has been following the wedding through the endless archives of the top-of-the-line jewellery the Ambani family has worn over the course of these many months of wedding festivities.

She received an invite to the wedding recently as the plus one of Orry, India’s favourite doer and liver, and is currently in India eagerly awaiting posting about wedding looks of the highest caliber

Ivanka Trump

Like Zuckerburg, Ivanka Trump and her family are expected at the wedding after having attended the three day pre-wedding party in March.

Hilary Clinton

She’s attended Ambani events before and it seems like she’s going to be attending this one too.

It seems the Ambanis enjoy inviting unpopular Western politicians to their weddings.

Samsung Electronics chief Jay Lee

Random but maybe sort of expected is the attendance of the executive chairman of Samsung Electronics, Jay Lee, who was seen at the Mumbai airport.

It is not surprising that he is among one of the many tech and business tycoons the Ambanis have formed friendships and partnerships with over the years.

The weddings will also feature the who’s who of Bollywood stars, which is expected. This definitely includes Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan and so on and so forth.

Who’s already performed

In the past, the Ambanis have had Beyonce and Chris Martin, the frontman of Coldplay, perform at other family events and weddings.

Here’s an overview of all the events and performers so far:

At the pre-wedding party in March, the Ambanis brought Rihanna back to the stage after more than six years.

This was followed by performances by Diljit Dosanjh and Akon the next two nights.

In May, the wedding festivities continued with a four-day cruise around Italy, with performances from the Backstreet Boys, Pitbull, and David Guetta.

Later that same month, they held a masquerade ball at the Chateau de Croix des Gardes mansion in France, featuring Katy Perry.

The month concluded with a private Andrea Bocelli performance in Portofino, Italy.

Most recently, Justin Bieber performed at the sangeet last week, which was held at mother of the groom Nita Ambani’s arts venue, the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre.

Who will be performing at the wedding

The Indian media expects Adele, Drake, and/or Lana Del Rey to grace the stage as well as renowned Indian musicians Shreya Ghoshal and Sonu Nigam.

Nigerian singer of the 2022 hit ‘Calm Down’, Rema, has arrived in India and is confirmed to be performing, and will reportedly be paid INR 250 million to play just one song (and we could confidently bet INR 250 million that the song is ‘Calm Down’).

On top of that, Luis Fonsi, the Puerto Rican singer of ‘Despacito’ has shared on his Instagram story that he is on his way to India.

Now he could just be heading for a vacation, but our money’s on an Ambani performance.

The actual wedding starts today (July 12) and will continue till July 14.

Comments

Reader Jul 12, 2024 05:32pm
I hope Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy & North Korea's Kim Jong Un are also invited
Recommend 10
Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Jul 12, 2024 05:56pm
No doubt, in today's capitalistic world, money walks, money talks, money rocks, money mocks and often stalks.
Recommend 10
Abdullah, Killa Abdullah Jul 12, 2024 06:17pm
Nothing new. Rich Arabs have already done this. This is nothing compared to the opulence of the Gulf.
Recommend 12
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