Stars Gather For Obama's Scaled-Back Martha's Vineyard Birthday

MARTHA'S VINEYARD, MA — Celebrities like John Legend, Chrissy Teigen, Stephen Colbert and Beyoncé have begun arriving for former President Barack Obama's 60th birthday party on Martha's Vineyard, according to multiple reports.

The president initially planned to host some 500 guests and 200 staff members at his $12 million mansion on the island, as first reported by The Hill. But the guest list was cut down following criticism and a rapid rise in coronavirus cases in recent weeks.

The blowout bash was criticized for gathering a large number of people during the pandemic. The party requires vaccinations, according to an Axios report, but it comes soon after a large cluster of breakthrough cases in Provincetown.

Obama has a history of celebrating his birthday with big parties. When he turned 50 in 2011, Jay-Z, Stevie Wonder, Tom Hanks, and Chris Rock attended a party in the White House.

The former president turned 60 on August 4.

This summer's party was initially set to bring together both major celebrities and alumni of the presidential administration, but most of the former administration officials found themselves on the chopping block when Obama began cutting down the guest list, according to the New York Times.

Celebrities, meanwhile, have begun showing up, according to tabloid reports. Alongside power couples Jay-Z and Beyoncé, Chrissy Teigen and John Legend and Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade, guests photographed or reported by the tabloids include Stephen Colbert, George Clooney and Don Cheadle.

President Joe Biden is not attending, but his Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry was spotted.

Martha's Vineyard currently does not qualify as an area of "substantially high" risk, which was the target of recent CDC recommendations, but local health officials issued an indoor mask advisory even for vaccinated people.