Former Vice President Joe Biden is headed to California later this month for a series of ritzy fundraisers hosted by the Hollywood elite.
On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reported Biden would attend a series of fundraisers in Hollywood between July 18 and July 19. Of those, one of the most high-profile will be held at the home of Tom Rothman, the chairman of Sony’s Motion Picture Group.
Rothman and his wife, actress Jessica Harper, are some of Hollywood’s most prolific Democrat donors, contributing more than $217,000 to liberal candidates and causes in 2018 alone.
Co-hosts for the event include mega-producers Peter Chernin and Amy Pascal, and Bryan Lourd, the managing director of one of Hollywood’s largest talent agencies. Also listed as co-hosts are movie industry titans and Democrat megadonors like Jeffrey Katzenberg, the former chairman of Walt Disney Studios, and Toby Emmerich, who leads the Warner Bros. Picture Group.
Biden is also scheduled to appear at another fundraiser during his visit hosted by longtime Democrat donor James Costos and his husband Michael Smith, an interior designer. During President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, Costos and Smith bundled nearly $500,000 for the effort, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In 2013, Obama rewarded the couple for their fundraising prowess by appointing Costos, who had no prior diplomatic or foreign policy experience, as U.S. ambassador to Spain.
For Biden’s upcoming fundraiser, Costos appears to have recruited other Hollywood elites to help line the former vice president’s campaign coffers. Listed among the co-hosts and attendees for the event is Geffen Records President Neil Jacobson, Joy producer John Davis, and Eric Ortner, a talent manager who helped secure celebrity endorsements for Obama’s campaign in 2012.
The fundraiser will be Biden’s second sojourn to Hollywood in order to raise money for his presidential campaign. Shortly after announcing his candidacy in May, Biden attended a $10,000 a head fundraiser at Costos’s Los Angeles home. At that event, Biden urged the 300 Hollywood elite gathered to “lift” up their heads, remember who they were, and commit to defeating President Donald Trump.
“I guarantee you if it’s me, what’s gonna happen is, we’re going to see this country come together like it hasn’t in a long time, Biden said “Because people are tired, they’re sick and tired of what’s happening. Let’s lift our heads up. Again, not a joke, remember who the hell we are. And let’s go take it back!”
The spat of celebrity-studded events comes as Biden endures a bruising week of campaigning that saw the struggling front-runner apologize for defending his long record of working with segregationist Senators.