Barack Obama takes a step back and, after the controversy over the decision to organize a mega party of 700 people including guests and service personnel for his 60th birthday, he decides to celebrate his birthday only with close relatives and friends. “Due to the new release of the Delta variant last week the president and Michelle Obama have decided to significantly reduce the party,” explained the spokeswoman, Hannah Hankins. Obama, he added, “appreciates all the others who send him their wishes from afar and is looking forward to seeing them soon”. The party, scheduled for the weekend in the former first couple’s $ 12 million villa in the exclusive Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, was organized outdoors to reduce the risk of contagion, and with a very strict health protocol ( all guests had to be vaccinated against covid and still undergo a swab).
Many former officials from the 44th US president’s administration, celebrities such as George Clooney, Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey, and Democratic funders, many of whom had already arrived in the renowned New England summer resort, were expected to attend. Despite the precautions taken, however, the mega party made many turn up their noses, also because only a few days ago the state recommended that the inhabitants return to using masks indoors. In addition to the fact that recently there was an outbreak of cases in Provincetown, in Massachusetts, in which, according to a study by the CDC, the highest American health authority, three-quarters of the infected people were vaccinated. And so, even if Martha’s Vineyard has a moderate level of transmission of the virus and is located 160 kilometers from Provincetown, the Obamas to avoid further criticism have decided to opt for a much smaller event. “They have been concerned about the virus from the start, asking guests if they have been vaccinated, and still asking them to undergo a test near the party,” explained former commander-in-chief’s former adviser, David Axelrod. : “When the party was planned the situation was very different, so they adapted to the circumstances.” Obama likes to organize big celebrations for his birthday (which falls just today): when he turned 50 and 55, for example, he organized evenings at the White House with guests like Jay-Z, Stevie Wonder, Tom Hanks, Chris Rock, Ellen DeGeneres, Paul McCartney.