A month ago, Hollywood was largely uninterested in this month’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Now, celebrities are crawling out of the woodwork to join Kamalapalooza—including Uma Thurman, John Legend, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Kerry Washington.
And if the Democratic Party planners’ dreams come true, Beyoncé herself will be there to sing “Freedom” live as Kamala Harris formally accepts the nomination that delegates to the convention have already bestowed upon her. Queen Bey has already granted the Harris campaign permission to make her 2016 hit the theme song for the first Black female presidential nominee, and she is widely rumored to be the headliner on Thursday, Aug. 22, the last night of the convention, when Harris will take the stage to make her acceptance speech.
That type of star power would have been a big stretch for a Biden-fronted convention.
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Legend, who is married to the arguably more famous Chrissy Teigen, did not initially commit when asked to perform at the DNC when Joe Biden was still the nominee. That changed when Biden exited the race and Harris became the headliner on the Democratic ticket to take on Donald Trump in November. “They never said ‘no’ with Biden, just didn’t ever give an answer,” one source familiar with the discussions told the Daily Beast.
And Louis-Dreyfus, who previously performed a series of comedy bits during Biden’s virtual convention in 2020 and has taken on new significance this time around with the resurgence of her HBO series Veep, seemed even more enthused about showing up for Harris in person this time, telling the London Times that she will be “extra-involved” in the Harris campaign through to Election Day.
It’s safe to say that DNC officials would love to see Beyoncé be part of history. DNC Chair Minyon Moore wrote in an op-ed for theGrio this week, “It’s hard to overstate the significance of this moment, for the first time ever—a Black woman has secured the presidential nomination of a major party. But history doesn’t just happen—it’s made. And it’s important for us to remember how we got here.”
The Daily Beast hears that other celebrities and musicians expected to attend this year’s convention, set to begin on Aug. 19 in the Windy City, include Oscar nominees Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction) and Octavia Spencer (The Help), the vocal harmony group Boyz II Men, and a slew of actors who are members of the Creative Coalition, a nonpartisan arts advocacy organization.
The group’s delegation will be 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, we had a modicum of interest from the 51st State of Hollywood,” Robin Bronk, the CEO of the Creative Coalition, told the Daily Beast. “Now we have a waiting list.”
In fact, Bronk added, “Everyone wants to get on our list.”
The Democratic National Convention did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment about whether Beyoncé or other big-name celebrities would be performing or attending the event. Similar requests for comment to stars like George Clooney and Tom Hanks did not receive a response.
Actress Jennifer Hudson sings the National Anthem on day four of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at Invesco Field at Mile High, Aug. 28, 2008 in Denver, Colorado.
John Moore/Getty Images
Musician Stevie Wonder is shown on a large stadium screen on day four of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at Invesco Field at Mile High, Aug. 28, 2008 in Denver, Colorado.
Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesEven if the Beyoncé rumors end up being too good to be true for Democrats, this year’s DNC is shaping up to be a repeat of Barack Obama’s first star-studded convention that drew major A-listers to Denver including Sting, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez (back when “Bennifer” meant Jennifer Garner), Spike Lee, Scarlett Johansson, and many other big names. On the final night, leading up to Obama’s nomination speech, Jennifer Hudson belted the national anthem and artists including Steve Wonder and Sheryl Crow wowed the Mile High stadium crowd.
So while concerned pundits had been warning that this year’s DNC in Chicago could serve as a bad flashback to the chaos of 1968 that presaged Richard Nixon’s landslide victory, it could end up looking a lot more like the convention that helped American make history in 2008.
— Additional reporting by Mini Racker
