Celebrities have always come to Washington to promote their pet causes, but since Barack and Michelle Obama have arrived, the nation’s capitol has taken on some of Hollywood’s sparkle.
Starting with Obama’s inauguration, a parade of big names, including Beyonce and Faith Hill, has been coming through town, not just celebrity activists like Bruce Springsteen or Bono.
The new glamour of Washington in the year of Obama is evident in the city’s new status as a prime shooting location for movies. Over the summer, Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson and Jack Nicholson were spotted frequently while they filmed the romantic comedy “How Do You Know?” and Angelina Jolie was in town for the shooting of “Salt.”
At the same time, reality TV is finding D.C. as a sexy scene for glamour and drama. After 22 seasons of MTV’s “The Real World,” the cable channel finally got to film a household of roommates living in D.C.’s Dupont Circle neighborhood. Episodes of HBO’s “Big Love,” NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” and ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” all soaked up Washington’s allure.
And then there’s the “Real Housewives of D.C.,” including hopeful Michaele Salahi, who became better known as half of the White House gatecrasher couple.
After she and her husband, Tareq, created an embarrassment and raised questions about security procedures at the Obama’s first state dinner, the president may be feeling some pressure to keep the celebrity world away.
Though the president and first lady invited Jennifer Hudson to perform at the first state dinner and had the Jonas Brothers at the White House for a scavenger hunt for first daughters Sasha and Malia, Todd Flournoy, former Motion Picture Association of America lobbyist, says he doesn’t see President Obama palling around with Hollywood types like President Clinton often did.
“The administration itself is not going out of its way to embrace Hollywood,” Flournoy said. “I think they’ve been trying to keep them a little bit at arm’s length at a time with the wars and the economy being a priority; they are not really looking to embrace Hollywood necessarily.”
Dannia Hakki, co-founder of entertainment public relations firm MoKi Media, said the demand for Washington gossip from magazines and Web sites has been skyrocketing and that she expected to see demand only increase.
“Washingtonians should prepare themselves for a Hollywood takeover. It’s already happening,” Hakki warned.
