RAISE A GLASS

Stars Show Up in Force to Biden’s White House State Dinner With Japan

The dinner for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was attended by Robert DeNiro, Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, and the Clintons, among many others.

The stars glittered at the Bidens’ state dinner at the White House on Wednesday evening, with Robert DeNiro, the Clintons, and Jeff Bezos among the more than 200 guests invited to rub elbows with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The black-tie dinner for Kishida, the fifth such event of Biden’s term, was planned to emphasize the strong friendship between the U.S. and Japan. Accordingly, the fete featured a State Floor transformed into what Dr. Jill Biden called a “vibrant spring garden” and a menu that fairly screams “good diplomacy”: a starter riffing on a California roll, dry-aged ribeye with shishito pepper butter, and cherry ice cream. Also tucking into the cross-cultural cuisine were a number of tech and finance moguls, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, and and Microsoft president Brad Smith. Whether they came from the Olympic world (figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi), labor landscape (United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain), or scientific strata (NASA Administrator Bill Nelson), however, all the guests were encouraged to stick around for one final digestif—a post-dinner concert by Paul Simon.