Moviegoers and TV fans aren’t the only ones glad the writers and actors strike has ended. Now that the industry is up and running again, President Joe Biden has kicked off his Hollywood campaign trail. Beginning Friday, December 8, the commander-in-chief’s celebrity tour will last through the weekend.
Biden Seeks Hollywood Support
The president re-elect hopeful has a lot of work to do to improve public image. Americans, including some of Hollywood’s elite, are not happy with the way he’s running the nation, especially regarding the economy and the Israel-Hamas war. The entertainment industry tends to lean Democratic, and, according to campaign contribution tracker OpenSecrets, the industry provided $163.6 million in 2020 campaign donations, with 88% of those funds going to Democrats.
But Biden is losing some of his big-name celebrity endorsers, including Rapper Cardi B, who became upset with the president because of budget cuts that affect New York City. After Biden announced the US could “fund two wars,” the entertainer posted on Instagram: “I’m not endorsing no f—–g president no more.”
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson endorsed Biden in 2020 but said he can’t think of any of his friends who support the president now. Comedian Michael Rapaport, who is a vocal critic of Donald Trump, became upset over the handling of the Israel-Hamas war. In November, he posted to X: “If it comes down to pig d— Donald Trump, and smoking Joe Biden, I’m sorry. I am sorry. Voting for pig d— Donald Trump is on the table.” And actress Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City) said during a press conference that she will be participating in a five-day hunger strike to “demand that our president stop funding the mass killing and starvation of thousands of innocent Palestinians.”
Now that the SAG-AFTRA strikes are over, the president can finally kick off his glitzy tour to schmooze Hollywood’s elites. Biden’s first Los Angeles fundraising campaign this year will start tonight with an event hosted by James Costos and partner Michael Smith. Smith, an interior designer, redesigned the Oval Office during Barack Obama’s presidency. Costos served as Obama’s ambassador to Spain. The couple also hosted Biden’s first Hollywood fundraiser during his 2020 campaign.
The star-studded guest list includes Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw, Rick Caruso, Shonda Rhimes, Rob Reiner, and Peter and Megan Chernin, among many others. Nancy Pelosi and actress-singer Barbra Streisand are also expected to attend. Singer Lenny Kravits is scheduled to entertain the deep pockets with a performance.
Tickets begin at $1,000 and range as high as $500,000. Those who wish to have access to a photo line must contribute at least $25,000 to the cause. The LA tour is expected to bring in more than $15 million for Biden’s campaign.
Jeffrey Katzenberg, a co-founder of DreamWorks Pictures, has been in charge of presidential fundraising events in Los Angeles, even choosing who gets to host the first premier events. Now, he serves as co-chairman of Biden’s campaign and will host his own “meeting” while the president is in the Golden State. “Should Katzenberg be outshined, it could help reshuffle a Hollywood pecking order that has been in place since Bill Clinton was president,” Fox 11 speculated.
The weekend fundraising bender in California doesn’t have any official presidential events scheduled, and some question if that is legal. White House deputy spokeswoman Olivia Dalton said Biden’s travel “is certainly being paid for in full compliance with federal regulations” because the president is the president “wherever he is.”
As of the last fundraising reporting at the end of September, Biden and his party had $91 million cash on hand, but they’ll have to dig deeper to continue fighting Donald Trump.
