For a celebrity who recently expressed great heartache over being in the “cancel club” because of her cyberbullying past, Chrissy Teigen was happy to let people know she didn’t have to worry about being kept out of at least one A-list celebrity party.
Indeed, the supermodel and wife of John Legend made the most of the fact that she was was one of the 200 “close” family friends of Barack and Michelle Obama to make the final cut for the former president’s now legendary but “scaled back” 60th birthday party at his Martha’s Vineyard estate.
Teigen posted not one but a half a dozen photos and videos of herself, all dressed up and excited to attend Saturday night’s bash, which has been described as the social event of the summer season for America’s elite.
In one video, she glides down an elegant staircase in a flowing, white cocktail dress. Channeling some Marilyn Monroe, she cheekily croons “Happy Birthday Mr. President,” a nod to the tragic sex symbol’s 1962 serenade to President John F. Kennedy. Teigen captioned the video: “Well that was magical. goodnight Martha’s Vineyard. I have fallen in love with you hard!!”
Teigen’s presence at Obama’s party prompted some on social media to ask: “Is Chrissy Teigen uncanceled because she went to Obama’s birthday party or no?”
Genuine celebrity gossip question: Is Chrissy Teigen uncanceled because she went to Obama’s birthday party or no?https://t.co/gZ39n20JIM
— Elizabeth Brotherton-Bunch (@ebrotherton) August 9, 2021
The embattled influencer’s presence also added to the many reasons the bash has became a topic of political and cultural discussion over the weekend.
Much of the debate centers on the “optics” of a global figure of Obama’s stature hosting a lavish party amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as the delta variant is surging across the United States, the New York Times reported.
Right-wing pundits and politicians seized on Obama’s birthday party plans, accusing him and his famous friends of “liberal” hypocrisy, because the former president and other Democratic party leaders supported COVID-19 shutdowns last year.
Obama supporters say that he and his planners did everything that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advise for any individual, organization or entertainment venue to host a safe large gathering. The former president hired a “COVID coordinator,” or compliance officer, to ensure that all CDC, state, and local pandemic protocols would be followed, the Times and People reported.
The attendees were expected to be vaccinated or to show proof of negative COVID-19 tests. In addition, the party was held outdoors, where guests could spread out across 29 acres. In an op-ed for the Arizona Republic, writer Jon Gabriel said “seeing vaxxed celebrities party on Martha’s Vineyard might be the push” people need to finally get vaccinated.
The party incited other hard feelings about people’s social status and the way the event seemed to broadcast privilege, according to the New York Times and people commenting on Twitter.
Responding to the surge in delta cases, planners announced that the party would be “significantly scaled back” from its original guest list of 475 and limited to family and “close friends,” but trimming the guest list down to around 200 meant that some people “were treated to a cold dose of reality when they were abruptly cut from the guest list,” the New York Times reported.
Many of those cut from the final guest list tended to be less famous, including former Obama administration officials, the New York Times added. They had long looked forward to the reunion and “generally credit themselves with helping create the Obama legacy that has allowed the former president to settle in so comfortably with the A-list crowd.”
The A-listers remaining on the guest list, who apparently are regarded as “close friends” of the Obamas, include Teigen and Legend, as well as Gayle King, Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson and Steven Spielberg, People reported.
The final guest list also reportedly included Oprah Winfrey, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Bruce Springsteen, George Clooney, Bradley Cooper and Stephen Colbert, though it’s not clear from reports whether they actually attended. Winfrey reportedly bowed out of attending Saturday night’s festivities, but met up with the Obamas for brunch on Sunday, according to the Daily Mail.
Teigen made it clear to her 35 million followers that she attended. Other photos and videos showed the social media star and cookbook author getting her hair styled, and with Legend, wearing a complementary white suit, standing on an expansive island lawn with a cloud-dappled sky behind them.
In one set of photos, Teigen appeared to refer to her recent posts about suffering severe depression in the wake of her cyberbullying scandal. As she joked about trying to choose photos to include in her post, she said she was happy in “twice-weekly therapy” sessions but might have to “bump it to three.”
In June, the embattled social media star tried to push herself back into the cultural conversation by posting a lengthy Instagram post in which she revealed she was in a bad place because she had been a target of “cancel culture” and is in the “cancel club.”
The unofficial queen of Twitter was dethroned in May after Courtney Stodden revealed that Teigen sent direct messages in 2011, telling the then-16-year-old media personality to commit suicide. Teigen’s past online attacks of troubled stars Lindsay Lohan and Farrah Abraham also surfaced, and she faced accusations that she tried to ruin the career of designer Michael Costello. Teigen has denied the allegations involving Costello.
Teigen’s rapid fall from grace led to Pete Davidson celebrating “getting Chrissy Teigen out of our lives” on “Saturday Night Live.” She also lost out on professional opportunities and endorsement deals with Netflix and Macy’s.
For Teigen, being “cancelled” seemed to include her no longer posting on Twitter, but she’s continued to be active on Instagram, where it’s easier to delete critical comments.
On Instagram, Teigen wrote how “depressed” she felt and “lost,” suggesting it had to do with the fact that she had stopped sharing her thoughts about life, culture, parenting and politics with the 13 million people who follow her on Twitter.
“I feel lost and need to find my place again,” Teigen wrote.
Over the weekend, some expressed disappointment that the Obamas included Teigen at the party. Given her online behavior, they said she’s still a “horrible” person and it’s unfortunate that the invitation seemed to confer social acceptance. Others felt she had apologized multiple times and shown remorse. Still others wondered if Teigen only made the final cut because of Legend, or because he may have performed at the party.
Was Legend invited as a guest or as part of the entertainment??. Chrissy always goes along for the ride.
— ruby red (@rubyred28866498) August 8, 2021
Someone else, responding to a story about Teigen’s many photos from her star-studded Martha’s Vineyard weekend, tweeted, perhaps sardonically:
how nice for her https://t.co/ebPrrTb79a
— Leah Finnegan (@leahfinnegan) August 9, 2021