Amazon wraps controversial week ahead of ‘Melania’ premier, earnings

It was a turbulent week for Amazon.

From a bungled email prematurely announcing another massive round of layoffs to scrutiny around the company’s $75 million investment in a documentary about the first lady, Amazon heads into its quarterly earnings report next week surrounded by a deafening level of outside noise.

On Saturday, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and a top entertainment exec from the company joined a group of CEOs, politicians and celebrities at the White House for a private screening of “Melania,” which was produced by Amazon MGM Studios and Melania Trump.

The event was roundly criticized for appearing tone deaf as it occurred mere hours after federal immigration agents shot and killed urgent care nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, the second such deadly incident there in less than three weeks.

While most of the biggest names in tech stayed mum on the matter, many people in the industry expressed outrage over the incidents, and urged other members of the tech community to publicly denounce the killing of Pretti and the prior shooting of Renee Good, as well as President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, who attended the screening, subsequently issued a statement calling for a “deescalation” after the recent violence but without mentioning the two fatal shootings. Amazon hasn’t commented on the matter.

Amazon’s ties to the Melania film, which officially hit theatres on Friday, was awkward enough given the political tensions building in Minneapolis and elsewhere. The price tag has raised further questions about Amazon’s agenda and whether the company is trying to curry favor with the president.

“I’m not involved in that. That was done with my wife,” President Trump told reporters on Thursday at a premier for the movie in Washington, D.C.. “I think it’s a very important movie. I think it’s really going to be very important. It shows life in the White House. It’s a big deal, actually.”

A spokesperson for Amazon MGM said in an email, “We licensed the film for one reason and one reason only — because we think customers are going to love it.”

Early ticket sales for the documentary have been weak, and the film is projected to bring in about $5 million during its opening weekend in the U.S. and Canada, Puck News reported, citing National Research Group forecasting data.

Making the timing even worse for Amazon, which has also agreed to stream a three-part docuseries through Prime Video, the company on Wednesday initiated another round of mass layoffs impacting about 16,000 corporate workers. The company let go of 14,000 employees last October.

The announcement was preempted a day early by an inadvertent email sent to cloud employees, which alluded to “organizational changes,” and a post from Amazon’s human resources boss Beth…