The party was initially supposed to have a much lengthier guest list, but was scaled back in response to the worsening state of the pandemic. David, who made the first guest list, spoke to The New York Times, revealing that he received a call from Obama’s assistant which he did not initially answer, assuming that he was going to be asked to perform at the event with only three days' notice.
“I was pretty glum when I finally called back his assistant,” David revealed to The Times. “When he told me I was eighty-sixed from the party, I was so relieved, I screamed, 'Thank you! Thank you!' He must have thought I was insane.” David then added, “Then I hung up the phone, poured myself a drink and finished my crossword puzzle.”
Hannah Hankins, a spokeswoman for the Obama’s, released a statement saying that the guest list had been reduced due to increased Covid numbers connected to the Delta variant. “This outdoor event was planned months ago in accordance with all public health guidelines and with COVID safeguards in place,” she said. “Due to the new spread of the Delta variant over the past week, the President and Mrs. Obama have decided to significantly scale back the event to include only family and close friends.”
Evidently David wasn’t too torn up about being removed from the guest list, and The Late Show host Stephen Colbert, who was also nixed from the party shared a similar sentiment, saying, “[Obama] decided to celebrate by throwing this huge blowout on Martha’s Vineyard and everybody who was anybody was going to be there, including yours truly. But given the whole pandemic thing and the Delta variant, a celebrity mosh pit was maybe not the wisest choice, so Obama decided to scale back the guest list for his party—he was forced to limit the invites to only his closest Beyoncés.”