Former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, actor LeVar Burton, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries were among the distinguished guests invited to the official state dinner – with former President Barack Obama making a brief, surprise appearance.
He then joked that “many members of the African diaspora” were at Thursday’s black-tie event, including Obama who “just left.” 😂
Hollywood also had a presence at Thursday’s dinner – actors Wilmer Valderrama and Sean Penn were among those invited, and Burton told reporters that it is his first state dinner.
Philanthropist Melinda French Gates and former longtime Meta chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg were also among the guests invited
Country star Brad Paisley and the Howard Gospel Choir provided the entertainment at the glitzy event.
Some members of Congress were also invited to the dinner, including Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Veronica Escobar of Texas, as well as GOP Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas.
Rev. Al Sharpton was invited to the dinner…
CNN’s Bianna Golodryga was invited to Thursday’s dinner, as were NBC News’ Lester Holt and the Associated Press’ Darlene Superville.
