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- Former President Barack Obama is hosting a scaled-down 60th birthday party on Martha's Vineyard this weekend.
- Obama uninvited some guests, including celebs like Larry David and Conan O'Brien, to slim the guest list.
- Obama faced pressure to shrink his party amid concerns over the hyper-contagious delta variant.
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Former President Barack Obama made a last-minute decision to significantly scale down his 60th birthday bash on Martha's Vineyard this weekend, and several VIP guests didn't make the cut.
Comedian Larry David and the talk show hosts David Letterman and Conan O'Brien were uninvited amid concern about the rapidly-spreading COVID-19 delta variant, The New York Times reported Friday. The majority of Obama's former administration staffers, including top adviser David Axelrod, also got the axe, the Times reported.
"This outdoor event was planned months ago in accordance with all public health guidelines and with COVID safeguards in place," Obama's spokesperson, Hannah Hankins, said in a statement. "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."
But several other celebrities, including Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Spielberg, and George Clooney, made the pared-down list.
Some other high-profile guests made their own decision not to attend. President Joe Biden said he wouldn't attend the party, but would find some other way to celebrate the former president's birthday. Oprah Winfrey and filmmaker Ava DuVernay decided not to go amid concerns over delta, the Times reported.
The party, which will be held at the Obama's 29-acre, $12 million mansion on the island, originally had a 475-person guest list. It's unclear how many guests will attend the event, which will reportedly be held outdoors and will feature a meat-less, vegan menu put together by the musician Questlove.