The White House hosted a UFC event on June 14 that doubled as President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday celebration, but the gathering ended up looking more like a family reunion than a star-studded gala after a wave of celebrity rejections left the guest list dominated by Trump relatives and administration officials.
UFC Freedom 250, which also commemorated America’s 250th anniversary, featured primarily Trump family members in the ringside seats at the $60 million cage fight held on the White House South Lawn. First Lady Melania Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and his wife Bettina Trump, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, and Eric Trump and Lara Trump all attended the event, according to sources close to the family.
Barron Trump was notably missing from the guest list despite other family members attending.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and her husband Nicholas Riccio joined the family gathering. Some celebrities did accept the invitation, though several others declined to attend.
UFC President Dana White had extended invitations to an impressive lineup of celebrities, including former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, actor and wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, actors Adam Sandler, Jared Leto, and Jason Statham, filmmaker Guy Ritchie, and Access Hollywood host Mario Lopez, The Independent reported on May 27.
A source close to Johnson confirmed to Vanity Fair that the wrestler-turned-actor would not attend. Sandler, Leto, and even Lopez—who has publicly identified as a conservative—also declined to attend, according to The Daily Beast’s June 6 report.
Jon Favreau, director of The Mandalorian and Grogu and a longtime UFC fan, did not return a request for comment when speculation arose that he had received an invitation. The remaining celebrity invitees had not responded to multiple requests for comment from Vanity Fair.
The stark absence of celebrity power led The Daily Beast to call the guest list a humiliation for Trump.
When asked about the celebrity exodus, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle defended the event, saying it would rank among history’s most significant sporting occasions and that hosting it at the White House demonstrates the president’s commitment to honoring the nation’s 250th anniversary.
The event featured seven UFC bouts taking place in an octagon under towering lighting rigs that had been erected on the South Lawn. About 5,000 seats were constructed around the venue, with approximately 4,300 seats positioned around the octagon itself. At least 1,200 of those seats were reserved for active-duty service members.
White and Hollywood superagent Ari Emanuel, who is also a UFC owner, each had 200 tickets to distribute as they chose. Trump himself controlled 1,000 tickets for the invite-only event. Members of the public could apply for seats, though the selection process remained unclear.
The president stepped out of the White House to a scene ringed by Cabinet members, senior administration aides, GOP lawmakers, and more than 4,000 fans shouting themselves hoarse inside a temporary arena beneath The Claw, a spaceshiplike metal arch outfitted with lights, sound systems, and massive screens. Thousands more watched on large displays from the nearby Ellipse.
Many of the invited celebrities are known UFC aficionados. Brady has discussed his favorite fighters in interviews, while Leto has shared posts about upcoming bouts on social media. In a 2011 interview, Statham said he had always been a fan of the sport, calling UFC fighters the ultimate athletes and true gladiators.
The celebrity snubs came on the heels of another high-profile booking disaster for the Trump administration. After most of the concert lineup backed out of the Great American State Fair scheduled for June 24 on the National Mall, Trump announced on June 11 that he would host a rally instead, making himself the main attraction.
Performers such as Milli Vanilli, Bret Michaels, and Martina McBride withdrew after learning the event was partisan rather than nonpartisan as initially described. Trump responded by insulting the performers on Truth Social on June 11, writing that he didn’t want singers with no talent but big fees to put people to sleep, and that he had told them all to stay home.
Trump’s hand-picked replacement performers for the rally include 83-year-old country singer Lee Greenwood, whose signature hit “God Bless the U.S.A.” was released in 1984, and opera performer Christopher Macchio, age 47.
Trump’s most recent appearance at a sporting event didn’t go much better than his celebrity recruitment efforts. When he attended Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs at Madison Square Garden on June 8, he was roundly booed by the crowd. He was also caught apparently napping during the Knicks’ loss to the Spurs.
When former President Joe Biden marked his 80th birthday in November 2022, he did so with a private family brunch at the White House, underscoring how swiftly and dramatically circumstances have shifted.
