Hours after his statement on the horrific mass shooting at a historic black church in Charleston, President Obama attended two Hollywood fundraisers to talk gun control, race, and his presidency.
Though there was some speculation that Obama might forgo the elite fundraisers following the tragedy in Charleston, as he has in the past, the president chose to stick to his fundraising schedule.
The two fundraisers, one at the home of Two and a Half Men and Big Bang Theory producer Chuck Lorre and the other at Tyler Perry's, were high-dollar events. Tickets for the Lorre-hosted event, which was closed to the press, went for as much as $33,400 each, while Perry's more affordable affair ($2,500 a head) allowed the press to attend.
Citing an unnamed attendee of the 30-person Lorre event, Variety reports that several big names were there for the president's "long, thoughtful" discussion on gun laws, mental health, race, and his legacy:
Among those attending were Kiefer Sutherland, Matthew Perry, Conan O’Brien, UTA’s Jay Sures, Bob Broder, Tennis Channel CEO Ken Solomon and writer-producer James Burrows.
The attendee described the meeting, which lasted an hour and 15 minutes, as different from other events in that it offered an opportunity for Obama to have a “long, thoughtful” and serious discussion about issues, including gun violence and his presidency, in a much more “macro” sense than in other forums. The discussion about gun violence touched on gun laws, mental health and race, among other factors, the attendee said. Obama talked about being an optimist, especially about the country’s place in history.
Perry's much larger event was next. Variety reports that Obama made similar remarks to the around 250 people in attendance, with the host praising Obama at every turn.
"To see such a horrific event unfold like that is particularly shocking and it’s a reminder that we’ve got a lot of work to do," Obama said, according to a pool report.
Perry introduced Obama, saying that he was "one of the most incredible people I have ever met." He joked that Obama volunteered to take over the Titanic after it had already struck the iceberg, according to the pool report. [...]
Among those also at the event were January Jones, Ted Sarandos, Jason Collins and Matthew Weiner.
A few hours before the fundraisers, the president made a statement about the attack on Charleston's Emanuel AME Church where he blamed the tragedy in part on what he characterized as overly lax gun control laws.
"We don’t have all the facts, but we do know that, once again, innocent people were killed in part because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hands on a gun," Obama said. "Now is the time for mourning and for healing. But let’s be clear: At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries."
Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton is hitting Hollywood up for cash as well. She has three fundraising events scheduled for Friday: one at the home of co-CEO of Westfield Corp Peter Lowry, another hosted by HBO's head of programming Michael Lombardo, and a third hosted by Tobey Maguire and his wife Jennifer Meyer.