Stephen and Evelyn Colbert Attend the State Dinner

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Bradley Cooper, Stephen Colbert Among Dinner Guests

Attending Tuesday’s State Dinner along with lawmakers and cabinet members, are a list of celebrities, sports stars and civil rights activists.

Headlining the dinner is musician Mary J. Blige, who will perform for the guests. While she told reporters that her last name is French, Blige didn’t disclose what songs she will sing.

Hollywood has a strong showing for the dinner, which will honor French President Francois Hollande. […] Comedy Central show host Stephen Colbert — who will be seated at the head table with the Obamas and Hollande — and actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who portrays fictional vice president on HBO’s “Veep,” are in attendance.

Source: Politico.

White House State Dinner Draws Hollywood-Heavy Invite List

The guest list for the White House state dinner for French President Francois Hollande includes a greater-than-usual number of entertainment industry figures, many of whom have connections to France.

The standout on the list is undoubtedly Stephen Colbert, whose treks to D.C. in the past have usually been infused with a faux seriousness. Others on the list including a mix of donors and supporters, including director J.J. Abrams, HBO’s Richard Plepler, actress Cicely Tyson, Comcast’s David L. Cohen, actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tennis Channel’s Ken Solomon and singer Mary J. Blige. Also among the expected attendees: actor Bradley Cooper, Viacom’s Philippe Dauman, producer Ken Ehrlich, actress Mindy Kaling, and CNN’s Jeff Zucker.

Charles Rivkin, the former head of the Jim Henson Co. and WildBrain Media who became U.S. ambassador to France, also is among the guests. He left the post last year to take a new job in the State Department, and that position is still unfilled. It’s likely to go to a non-career appointee, i.e. a major donor or fundraiser, although lately some of the administration’s picks, including two from Los Angeles, have had rough confirmation hearings, to put it mildly.

Also on the list: Edie Windsor, the plaintiff in the legal challenge that ended with the Supreme Court striking down a key part of the Defense of Marriage Act last summer.

Update: Some color from the event, per a pool report: Abrams said his connection to France is that he spent his junior year of college there. Blige said he last name is French. Kaling said her connection was “my love of French food.”

Colbert didn’t say much when he entered with his wife, Evie. But he and his wife will be at the head table, as will Dauman and his wife. Dauman is, ultimately, Colbert’s boss. Colbert was seated next to First Lady Michelle Obama.

Louis-Dreyfus was seated next to her real-life counterpart, Vice President Joseph Biden.

Source: Variety.

Stephen Colbert At Head Table For White House State Dinner; JJ Abrams, Bradley Cooper, Viacom’s Philippe Dauman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus & CNN’s Jeff Zucker Also Attend

Michelle Obama could have turned to the guy seated next to her at the head table during tonight’s White House State Dinner and asked if he’s heard any good jokes lately. That would be none other than The Colbert Report host Stephen Colbert. Could it be that French-sounding surname earned him some juice with the protocol folks?

Source: Deadline.

Stephen Colbert, Bradley Cooper and More Stars of the State Dinner Guest List

Most of Obama’s cabinet, including his national top intelligence and surveillance chiefs, NSA Director Keith Alexander and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Alexander’s agency was caught spying on French citizens through its metadata-collection program, drawing a rebuke from French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who will also attend.

The menu will feature caviar farmed in Illinois, a Vermont rib-eye prepared (in a French-sounding style) with shallots and mushrooms, a Hawaiian chocolate-malted ganache served with vanilla ice cream, and a subsequent dessert tray that will include, among other things, cotton candy. The wine will all be American, with three options from Napa Valley, Washington state, and Monticello (yes, the Monticello in Virginia).

Full Guest List: ABC News.

Magie, Amitié, Caviar et bœuf aux échalotes, au Menu du Dîner d’État [Translation]

However, a detail left stunned French journalists: the presence of the entertainer Stephen Colbert as guest of honor at the table of Obama, where it was placed to the right of Michelle. Colbert, a rather conservative humorist, had recently devoted one of its programs to make fun of President Hollande and his adventures with Julie Gayet. He did not spare the downright ridicule by his amazing success with women and especially comparing it to the Hunchback of Notre Dame. “If we stuck to the principles of Mr. Holland and the first lady is always the last in which he sleeps, Monica Lewinski was our first lady for several months,” had mocked the entertainer about the trainee having had an affair with Bill Clinton. Interviewed by French journalists, the spokesman of the White House Jay Carney said he had not seen the show Colbert. “This is a great guest, he is not French?” Has he reacted. Either the White House was not aware, unlike the president’s advisers Holland who had been informed of the Colbert show, or she relied on the sense of humor, well-known, the French president.

Source: Lefigaro.

From Twitter:

‏@NerdyWonka
Stephen Colbert is such a gentleman. He waited for First Lady Michelle Obama to sit down and pushed her chair in for her. #FranceStateDinner

‏@ReutersZengerle
Stephen Colbert was seated next to FLOTUS at the head table with POTUS and Hollande: Colbert got the French first lady seat!

@ReutersZengerle
Jon Stewart did that whole bit not knowing that Colbert took the French first lady seat. Awkward?

@JillBidenVeep
Joe just tapped Stephen Colbert on the shoulder, giggled and said hello, and ran away. #StateDinner