A month ago, Hollywood was still sober about the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Now celebrities are coming out of every corner to attend Kamalapalooza, including Uma Thurman, John Legend, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Kerry Washington.
And if the dreams of the Democratic Party planners come true? Beyoncé herself will be there in person to sing “Freedom” live as Kamala Harris officially accepts the nomination that the convention delegates have already awarded her. Queen Bey has already given the Harris campaign permission to make her 2016 hit the theme song for the first black female presidential candidate., And Rumor has it that she will be the headliner on Thursday, August 22, the final night of the convention, when Harris takes the stage to deliver her acceptance speech.
That kind of star power would have been a major challenge for a convention led by Biden.
Legend, who is married to the arguably more famous Chrissy Teigen, initially declined to speak at the DNC when Joe Biden was the nominee. That changed when Biden dropped out of the race and Harris became the Democratic primary candidate to face Donald Trump in November. “With Biden, they never said ‘no,’ they just never gave an answer,” a source familiar with the discussions told The Daily Beast.
And Louis-Dreyfus, who previously performed a series of comedy routines during Biden’s virtual convention in 2020 and has taken on new prominence this time with the resurrection of her HBO series Veepseemed even more enthusiastic this time about appearing in person for Harris, saying The London Times that she would be “particularly committed” to Harris’ campaign until election day.
It’s safe to say that DNC officials would love to see Beyoncé make history. DNC Chair Minyon Moore wrote in an op-ed for Grio this week: “The significance of this moment can hardly be overstated – for the first time ever, a black woman has won the presidential nomination of a major party. But history just happens – it gets done. And it’s important for us to remember how we got here.”
Other celebrities and musicians expected to attend this year’s convention, which begins August 19 in the Windy City, The Daily Beast learns, include Oscar nominees Jeffrey Wright (American fiction) and Octavia Spencer (The help), the vocal harmony group Boyz II Men, and a number of actors who are members of the Creative Coalition, a nonpartisan arts organization.
The group’s delegation is led by Tim Daly and includes Thurman, Uzo Aduba, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Yvette Nicole Brown, Anthony Anderson, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Busy Philipps, Jon Cryer, David Cross, Yolonda Ross, Iain Armitage, Chris Witaske and Danai Gurira.
“Four weeks ago, there was some interest from the 51st state of Hollywood,” Robin Bronk, CEO of the Creative Coalition, tells the Daily Beast. “Now we have a waiting list.”
Bronk adds: “Everyone wants to be on our list.”
The Democratic National Convention did not immediately respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment on whether Beyoncé or other well-known celebrities would appear or attend the event. Similar requests for comment to stars including George Clooney and Tom Hanks went unanswered.
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“DENVER – AUGUST 28: Actress Jennifer Hudson sings the national anthem on the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at Invesco Field at Mile High on August 28, 2008 in Denver, Colorado. U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) is the first African-American to be officially nominated by a major party as a U.S. presidential candidate. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)”
John Moore
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“DENVER – AUGUST 28: Musician Stevie Wonder is seen on a large stadium screen during the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at Invesco Field at Mile High on August 28, 2008 in Denver, Colorado. U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) is the first African-American to be officially nominated as a U.S. presidential candidate by a major party. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)”
Justin Sullivan
Even if the rumors about Beyoncé prove too good to be true for the Democrats, this year’s DNC will be a repeat of Barack Obama’s first star-studded convention, which attracted major stars to Denver, including Sting, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez (then “Bennifer” was still Jennifer Garner), Spike Lee, Scarlett Johansson and many other big names. On the final night, before Obama’s nomination speech, Jennifer Hudson belted out the national anthem and artists such as Steve Wonder and Sheryl Crow thrilled the crowd at Mile High Stadium.
So while concerned pundits had warned that this year’s Democratic convention in Chicago could be a dire flashback to the chaos of 1968 that preceded Richard Nixon’s landslide victory, it may end up looking much more like the convention that helped America make history in 2008.
— Additional reporting by Mini Racker
