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1 year ago
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A millionaire tech entrepreneur and his former Miss Ireland bride have been accused of destroying the base of a prominent Utah natural landmark after leaving behind mountains of trash from their lavish desert wedding, a local council member has claimed.
Silicon Valley investor Andrew Chen and his new wife Emma Waldron, a former beauty queen who now runs an AI startup, allegedly left the mess at Utah's picturesque Castleton Tower landmark following their wedding in September, according to SFGate.
The outlet said the California couple have since tried to wipe evidence of the wedding off the internet.
Images reportedly of the aftermath of the wedding show heaps of furniture and trash bags strewn across the base of the landmark, while tire marks were also set into the smashed vegetation.
Images of the aftermath of the wedding saw the scenic spot covered in wedding decorations, furniture and trash
Officials reportedly gave permission for the event so long as it was only a 'simple ceremony with one small white tent'
The bride, Emma Waldron, won Miss Ireland in 2010, and has since launched a successful tech career and currently runs an artificial intelligence startup
Tech entrepreneur Andrew Chen was the head of the Rider Growth division of Uber, and now works as a venture capital investor in video games and the metaverse
The day after the wedding on September 3, Castle Valley councilmember Pamela Griffin reportedly stumbled upon the mess while walking from her cabin, which she said left her so angry she was shaking.
She said she saw movers from a California-based rental company boxing up some furniture and wedding supplies, adding that the moving truck had also left deep tire treads.
When she returned the next day, Gibson told the outlet trash bags filled with broken glass and food were still littered across the area, and reportedly was the one to share the images of the aftermath.
It was reportedly left to Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rangers to later clear the area.
The couple appear to have since changed their social media settings to private. But a deleted tweet purportedly sent by Chen to his 273,000 followers said: 'The ceremony had us giving longish vows, we had a beautiful dinner, then some dancing!'
He added that the couple then jetted off to Japan for their honeymoon.
According to an email sent by a BLM official to Gibson, seen by SFGate, the couple received permission to hold the event at the base of the landmark, so long as it was a 'simple ceremony with one small white tent.'
Video purported to be of the nuptials shared to social media show the event appeared to be larger, with at least two tents and long tables set up. It is unclear how many people attended.
A Castle Valley council meeting on September 20 resulted in Gibson and Castle Valley Mayor Jazmine Duncan writing to the Bureau of Land Management to complain about the couple's permission to hold the wedding.
It is alleged in the letter that when the couple got the go-ahead, they declined to mention they would be using a generator, hiring a catering service with tables and chairs, and would erect a 24-foot cabana.
The letter added that they had lined the road with glass candles and used a toilet facility service, which were allegedly left for days after the service.
In a since-deleted social media post, Chen said his nuptials were marked by a 'beautiful dinner then some dancing', before he and Waldron jetted off for Japan
The couple's wedding, dubbed by officials as the 'Waldron/ Chen extravaganza', has led to a push to ban events from the Utah landmark
Following her success as a beauty queen, Waldron now runs 'Spuddie', an AI firm set to release a digital 'best bud' to 'tend to your emotional and intellectual nourishment' with artificial intelligence
Chen is a video game and metaverse investor for venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and his company author page describes him as a 'prolific writer and leading voice on mobile, metrics, and user growth.'
Prior to his time at the venture capital firm, Chen led the Rider Growth division at Uber.
His new bride won Miss Ireland in 2010, and has since gone into the world of Silicon Valley as well as the head of AI startup 'Spuddie'.
The company is set to release a digital 'best bud' to 'tend to your emotional and intellectual nourishment' with artificial intelligence.
She was also the founder of platform WiLDE, which was reportedly backed by several billionaires and business heavyweights including former Apple CEO's John Sculley and Eric Schmidt.
Efforts to reach Chen or Waldron for comment were unsuccessful.
Waldron pictured at the VIP Style awards at The Marker Hotel in Dublin, Ireland in April 2014
Officials used the wedding as an example to argue to the BLM department that it should ban any future events at the base of Castleton Tower, warning another wedding could 'easily expand' to the 'Waldron/ Chen extravaganza.'
'It was a commercial event — small by LA standards, I’m sure, but still, it should not have happened,' Gibson later said. 'And they’re not being responsible for it, that’s what really galls me.'
She continued: 'It was effectively four days where the public could not enjoy what it should be able to enjoy because of these people that have no qualms about misrepresenting something just so they can have their pretty little wedding.'
The councilmember said she is still finding trash and broken glass at the site two months later, ruining the landscape that is popular with hikers and photographers.
The BLM department has added that it would be following up with the couple 'in partnership with BLM law enforcement', but did not immediately respond to a request for further details when contacted by DailyMail.com.
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