Celebrities arrive for Biden's South Korea state dinner
A parade of performers and familiar faces — including Angelina Jolie, home design TV stars Chip and Joanna Gaines, Olympian Chloe Kim and Broadway star Norm Lewis — touched down at the White House on Wednesday as the Bidens welcomed South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife for a state dinner.
Entering with her husband from the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, Joanna Gaines laughed when ITK asked if she had any design tips for the White House.
“Oh gosh, no,” the interior decorating guru replied.
Motioning to his wife, Chip Gaines cracked, “The white interior and exterior are just her thing.”
Sporting a vintage Chanel jacket and off-white gown with bold, red lipstick, Jolie arrived alongside her 21-year-old son, Maddox. The Academy Award winner shied away from answering questions from reporters about her plans after stepping down from her longtime special envoy role to the United Nations Refugee Agency in December and about President Biden announcing his 2024 reelection bid a day earlier.
“Asia-America relations are important to [Jolie’s] family,” a source close to the “Eternals” star told ITK. Maddox studied at Yonsei University in Seoul and his mother visited South Korea several times for her humanitarian and refugee advocacy work.
“Angelina and Maddox are honored to attend this state dinner,” the source said.
Lea Salonga, the singing voice of Disney princesses Jasmine and Mulan, had an answer at the ready when ITK questioned which animated princess Jill Biden would be.
“Belle,” Salonga said, naming the “Beauty and the Beast” protagonist and famed fictional bibliophile.
Salonga said she made the connection because of Belle’s love of “the books,” much like the first lady, an English professor who specialized in reading as part of her master’s degree.
Wearing a deep pink and blue-colored hanbok, Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) quipped that “the whole thing is not to trip” on her traditional Korean dress.
“I'm glad to be able to wear this, because cultural diversity as far as I'm concerned is really important,” Hirono said.
Lewis, the second Black person to play the title character in “Phantom of the Opera,” said he was excited yet nervous ahead of his performance at the dinner with Salonga and fellow Broadway star Jessica Vosk.
The Tony Award-nominated actor said he planned on singing the famed “Jekyll & Hyde” ballad, “This is the Moment,” at the event.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer made his way into the White House wearing a suit and tie.
When the press pointed out to the New York Democrat that he wasn’t dressed in a tuxedo for the ritzy festivities, he shot back to laughs, “This is as tux-y as I get!”