Loathe them or love them — there’s no denying that the Obamas know how to throw an epic party. What goes on inside these events is as good as anyone’s guess, of course, but what we know is that the guest list rivals that of a Vanity Fair Oscars afterparty. In Barack Obama’s 55th birthday bash, organized by none other than Michelle Obama (because who else?), it was reported that the guestlist included some of the industry’s biggest names. Top-billing are Beyoncé and Jay-Z, obviously, but the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Usher, Sarah Jessica Parker, Stevie Wonder, Ellen DeGeneres, and Magic Johnson also scored invites.
Five years later, at Barack’s 60th, aptly called “44 at 60,” held at Martha’s Vineyard, there was a bit of controversy as it was in the thick of the COVID-19 Delta surge. It was reported that the Obamas had no choice but to make tough calls in the name of health and safety and tighten up the guest list. And guess who made the cut? The Carters, apparently, while Larry David and Conan O’Brien, among others, had been uninvited. Per the Daily Mail, the Obamas were all about keeping the party exclusively for “family and close friends,” making the guest list trimming a clear indicator of who’s really in their close circle. In short, the Obamas and the Carters are still BFFs.
