Mask-less Obama throws dance party on his 60th birthday

Former U.S. President Barack Obama has been shown in photos and footage where he dances at his 60th birthday party with no face mask on. At first, he reportedly planned a large-scale birthday party with 475 guests on the invitation list and as many as 200 organizing staffs on standby. Amid growing COVID-19 concerns, he decided to reduce the scale of the event to invite close circles of his friends only. In response, there is widespread criticism across the United States of the former president’s lack of caution and care that led him to open a lavish party without wearing any mask while the nation records more than 100,000 newly confirmed cases a day in the wave of the Delta variant-centered pandemic.

It was reported by U.S. media including The New York Post on Sunday that photos and videos taken in secret by guests to Obama’s 60th birthday party held on the previous day in a mansion located on the Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard known as an high-end recreational area went viral across social media including Instagram. The shocking posts spread like wildfire although they were deleted immediately as per a ban on taking any form of photography at the party.

The controversial party in celebration of Obama’s birthday was thrown in a luxurious mansion that he bought for 12 million dollars, or 13.7 billion won, in 2019 – with seven bedrooms, eight restrooms, a swimming pool and other facilities on a site of 117,000 square meters. It even sounded absurd that he limited the party exclusively to his family members and close friends given that as many as hundreds of guests got together to enjoy an extravagant party, according to The New York Post. It has been reported that the party was attended by a group of top-class celebrities such as Hollywood actors George Clooney and Tom Hanks, film director & producer Steven Spielberg, pop stars Beyonce and his husband rapper Jay-Z, John Legend, and Alicia Keys.

In the video that spread but now is deleted on social media, dancing with his guests on stage, Obama wears a gray patterned shirt and white trousers but no one including the former president wears a mask. Bars reportedly offered high-end liquor, cigars, cocktails, steaks, chicken dishes, shrimps and rice. Some were smoking weed, the recreational use of which is legally allowed in the state of Massachusetts. Napkins, masks and other party supplies were emblazoned with the phrase ”44X60,” which means the 44th U.S. president’s 60th birthday. Restrooms were said to be equipped with sweat blocks and painkillers.

Rapper Trap Beckham said, “It was epic for sure. If any videos surface it’s going viral. He danced the whole time. Nobody ever seen Obama like this before.” It became silent after one o'clock in the morning on the island where a traffic jam occurred due to Obama's party, according to The New York Post.


Jae-Dong Yu jarrett@donga.com