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The stars descended on Martha’s Vineyard on Friday ahead of former President Barack Obama’s 60th birthday party, after his spokesperson claimed the Saturday party would be reduced to include “only family and close friends” in the middle concerns related to COVID-19.
Celebrity couples such as John Legend and Chrissy Teigen and Dwayne Wade and Gabrielle Union have been spotted arriving on the island of Massachusetts in photos obtained by The Post.
Teigen, who was recently criticized for past bullying comments, was seen cradling the couple’s 3-year-old son Miles as her singer husband helped unload a white van.
Actor Don Cheadle was also caught arriving, wearing a fedora and dark sunglasses.
Aerial photographs of the former First Family’s expansive 29-acre $ 12 million property showed a massive tent flanked by smaller staging tents, outdoor furniture, a dance floor, and a large elevated stage with loudspeakers and technical equipment.
Other mega-stars – including Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Stephen Colbert and Oprah Winfrey – were also on the island, according to photos and a Daily Mail report. John Kerry, President Biden’s climate czar, was also present, according to the report.
The party was originally scheduled to accommodate 475 guests and 200 workers, but an Obama spokeswoman said on Wednesday the party would be canceled after an outbreak of the Delta variant on nearby Cape Cod.
“Due to the re-release of the Delta variant over the past week, the President and Mrs. Obama have decided to drastically reduce the event to include only family and close friends,” Hannah Hankins said in a statement. communicated.
Obama’s move followed a Post report, which cited a source as saying the former president was creating a public health “nightmare” by trying to lure nearly 700 people into his party amid a nationwide wave of the variant and new restrictions.
Among the bigwigs who didn’t make the final cut were David Axelrod, Larry David, David Letterman and Conan O’Brien, according to the New York Times.
The Roots drummer Questlove was set to perform and coordinate a vegetarian menu, according to Bloomberg, but a rumor that Pearl Jam was also about to rock the party was unfounded, even though Eddie Vedder was scheduled to attend, said the Times.
A local businessman joked to the Mail that the Democrat had a vague definition of “close friends.”
“His close friends apparently include his golfing friends, politicians, celebrities. These people are here on the island and I doubt that he is turning them all away, ”the local reportedly said.
“He wants people to think it’s going to be small and intimate, but I don’t think we have the same definition of privacy.”
Other locals told the outlet that a reduced party could hurt commerce on the resort island, as hotels across the vineyard reportedly saw cancellations after the ex-president slashed the guest list.
“I know a lot of people were relying on the income of all the people who came in and they are disappointed. But to be fair, the place is always busy and there are also a lot of people who will not miss the traffic.
The man of the hour was pictured playing golf at an exclusive local club, with an entrance fee of $ 350,000, a day after his birthday on Wednesday, according to the report.
“Just make sure you get a good photo of me!” Obama told a Daily Mail photographer, as he wore a cap with the numbers 44 and 60 – references to his presidency and his age.
Obama and his golf mates then joined friends at a local bar and bowling alley, according to the article.
Earlier in the week, White House press secretary Jen Psaki defended Obama’s decision to go ahead with the party, noting that Vineyard’s Dukes County has only one moderate rate of COVID-19 transmission.
Prominent Republicans countered that Democrats would be angry if a GOP icon launched a similar stunt.
“Imagine if this party was for Trump,” Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs tweeted.
With post wires
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