Obama Joined By Julia Roberts, Reese Witherspoon At ‘Glee’ Creator Ryan Murphy Fundraiser
BREAKING… 2:26 PM 5th UPDATE Before attending his publicly scheduled Thursday fundraiser, President Obama had a private early meeting this morning at the Beverly Hilton with a number of young Hollywood stars who are supporting his re-election. The meeting, which was keep off the official White House itinerary, had no media present. However celebs like Jessica Alba, The Avengers’ Jeremy Renner, Bryan Greenberg (pictured left with Obama), Jared Leto, Glee’s Dianna Argon, Tatyana Ali, Sophia Bush and Kal Penn, who quit Hollywood for a year to work for the administration, taking to social media like Twitter to give POTUS shout-outs and post photos of them about meeting Obama.
The President’s 9 AM Thursday morning fundraiser was at the View Park home of developer Charles Quarles and his wife. Tickets for that event are $2,500. All the money the President raised during his time in LA goes to the Obama Victory Fund. After the Quarles event, Obama left LA for more events in Las Vegas and then to head back to D.C. in the evening.
There’s more glitz money in the incumbant’s near future. The President and the First Lady will be in NYC on June 14 for a fundraiser at Sarah Jessica Parker’s house co-hosted by the Sex and The City actress and Vogue editor Anna Wintour. Like the May 10 dinner at George Clooney’s house, the Parker/Wintour event will include a raffle for donors who give $3 to the campaign to win two tickets to attend. No word on how much the face value price of the tickets to Parker’s house are or how many people are expected. New York, like LA is fertile fundraising territory for the incumbent. Obama was in the Big Apple earlier this week fundraising with former President Bill Clinton and Jon Bon Jovi by his side.
4th UPDATE 9:10 PM
“I will not be singing tonight,” President Obama told the crowd tonight at Glee creator Ryan Murphy and his fiancé David Miller’s house. Obama made the joke after being introduced to the crowd of around 70 people by Murphy at the $40,000 per-couple fundraiser. Obama spoke for about 12 minutes starting at 8:15 PM and then took questions from the audience. That audience included HBO’s president of programming Michael Lombardo, Julia Roberts, CAA’s Kevin Huvane and Bryan Lourd, Glee star Jane Lynch and Reese Witherspoon. The President hit similar themes as he had at the LGBT gala earlier in the evening, talking about the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the record of his first term. Obama left Murphy and Miller’s house at 9 PM. The motorcade drove by supporters out on the street and headed back to the Beverly Hilton where Obama is staying tonight.
Here’s the scene from the pool report:
The scene: outdoor interior courtyard paved in brick. Obama spoke framed by a white arch. Eight tables of 8 to 10 arrayed around a central fountain. Chairs draped in white. Very pleasant weather. Neighbors with impossibly well groomed lawns seemed not tons thrilled to see all the cars and have us tramp on their grass a bit.
Witherspoon, a fellow Harvard Law graduate of the president if you count Legally Blonde, was in a place of honor at one of the closer-in tables.
3rd UPDATE – 8:40 PM President Obama has arrived at Glee creator Ryan Murphy’s Beverly Hills home. Julia Roberts, Glee star Jane Lynch and Reese Witherspoon are among the 70 guests joining Murphy and his fiancé David Miller at the $40,000 per-couple fundraiser. Obama is supposed to speak around 8:55 PM.
2nd UPDATE: 7:40 PM - President Obama arrived at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel for the LGBT Leadership Council gala to big applause and chants of “four more years!” CBS boss Les Moonves and wife Julie Chen were spotted in the crowd. So were Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer, Disney Worldwide Marketing president Ricky Strauss, Participant Media’s Jonathon Bass, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, Cher, Will & Grace creator Max Mutchnick, Hulu’s Jamie Kershaw, NCIS’ Pauley Perrette and Modern Family’s Jesse Tyler Ferguson. The first President to openly support same-sex marriage, Obama started speaking to the roaring crowd of several hundred at around 7 PM. Ellen DeGeneres and Glee’s Darren Criss performed before Obama’s 30-minute speech. Obama was introduced by a military doctor who came out after the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.” The President started with a potentially off-color joke about Ellen claiming that Michelle Obama “didn’t go down all the way down” in a push-up contest with the TV host. Taking a more serious tone, Obama told the crowd that his repeal of DADT is because “we are just trying to make this union a bit more perfect.” The President left the LGBT gala around 7:40 PM and is now on his way to Glee creator Ryan Murphy’s house in Beverly Hills for a smaller gathering of 70 guests.
UPDATE: 4:43 PM Air Force One has landed at LAX. Obama is in Marine One and heading over toward Beverly Hills where he will drive to his first event of the night at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Street closures on Santa Monica Blvd in Century City and Beverly Hills have now gone into effect.
PREVIOUS: President Barack Obama is coming back to LA today for some more Hollywood campaign cash. Less than a month after raising a record breaking $15 million at George Clooney’s house in a fundraising dinner, Obama is back tonight for the LGBT Gala and a $40,000 per-couple intimate dinner at Glee creator Ryan Murphy’s house. Air Force One is expected to arrive at LAX at around 4:20 PM from campaign events in San Francisco earlier today. That means snarled traffic for Westsiders as the Secret Service and the police close down streets both tonight, until around 10 PM, and Thursday morning. The first event of the evening for Obama is the LGBT Leadership Council Gala. The gala was originally scheduled for the SLS Beverly Hills Hotel but was moved to the larger Beverly Wilshire Hotel due to a surge in demand after Obama announced his support of same-sex marriage on May 9. Obama is scheduled to speak at the $1,250 per-person event at 7:15 PM. Ellen DeGeneres is hosting with Glee’s Darren Criss, replacing a sick Pink, providing the tunes for the audience of about 600. After that the President will drive on over to Ryan Murphy and his fiancé David Miller’s Beverly Hills home. Like the Clooney event on May 10, the dinner at the Glee creator’s house is smallish. About 70 people are expected to be in attendance. Couples paid $40,000 for their tickets and single guests paid $25,000. Obama is expected to speak at the dinner at around 8:55 PM. The President will be playing to a very different audience on TV tonight. Both Obama and his Republican rival Mitt Romney will both be appearing in videos segments on the CMT Music Awards. The President has another LA fundraiser early Thursday morning at the View Park home of developer Charles Quarles and his wife. Tickets for that event are $2,500. All the money the President raises during his time in LA goes to the Obama Victory Fund. Obama will leave LA for more events in Las Vegas in the later Thursday morning.
Not that there isn’t more glitz money in Obama’s near future. The President and the First Lady will be in NYC on June 14 for a fundraiser at Sarah Jessica Parker’s house co-hosted by the Sex and The City actress and Vogue editor Anna Wintour. Like the May 10 dinner at George Clooney’s house, the Parker/Wintour event will include a raffle for donors who give $3 to the campaign to win two tickets to attend. No word on how much the face value price of the tickets to Parker’s house are or how many people are expected. Obama was in the Big Apple earlier this week fundraising with former President Bill Clinton and Jon Bon Jovi by his side.
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