A view of the driveway leading up to the home of George Clooney in Los Angeles, moments after U.S. President Barack Obama arrived for a fundraiser, May 10, 2012.
Rightfully so, it’s been deemed “Starmageddon.”
On the heels of the President’s historic backing of gay marriage, Thursday night was very good to his reelection coffers: a George Clooney-hosted fundraiser managed to rake in a cool $15 million for Barack Obama’s campaign fund — reportedly a record for a single presidential election event. But that was just the business side of things.
(VIDEO: TIME’s 10 Questions interview with George Clooney)
Over the course of the star-studded evening at Clooney’s Laurel Canyon home, the president and the movie star shared a few self-deprecating jokes with an audience that included pretty much every boldface names you could think of, including Robert Downey Jr., Salma Hayek, Barbra Streisand, Billy Crystal …you get the picture. An exhaustive list of celebs in attendance was compiled by The Hollywood Reporter.
For those with the disposable income to shell out, the gala tent on Clooney’s basketball court was the place to be Thursday night. And even locals who weren’t mingling with Hollywood’s A-list last night got an unexpectedly pleasant evening: unlike past presidential jaunts to L.A., there apparently wasn’t widespread gridlock caused by the visit.
(PHOTOS: George Clooney arrested in Washington)
For the occasion, the President and the leading man, who have been friendly since Obama was a Senator, put their best buddy act on display. A few of the memorable Clooney-Obama quotes, according to multiple reports detailing the evening:
- Obama on Clooney’s magical fundraising prowess:
“We raised a lot of money because everybody loves George. They like me, they love him. And rightfully so. Not only is he an unbelievable actor, but he is one of those rare individuals who is at ease with everybody. He seems to occupy a constant state of grace, and uses his extraordinary talents on behalf of something truly important.” [The Hollywood Reporter]
- Clooney cheering up Obama about his presidency-induced wrinkles:
“People have commented on the fact I’ve got gray hair now. There was a blog post about look how wrinkly Obama is getting. Sort of distressing. George doesn’t have to go through these things,” Obama said. Clooney interjected: “You look good to me!” [The Los Angeles Times]
- Obama joking that Clooney was photo-shopped out of Shepard Fairey’s “Hope” poster:
“And this is the first time that George Clooney has ever been photoshopped out of a picture,” Mr. Obama said, to laughter and applause. “Never happened before, will never happen again.” [The New York Times]
- Obama trash-talking about Clooney’s basketball trash-talking:
“I want to thank Clooney for letting us use his basketball court. This man has been talking smack about his basketball game ever since I’ve known him.” [Deadline Hollywood]
FROM THE ARCHIVE: George Clooney, the Last Movie Star