The White House will host a state dinner for Kenya, with attendees including actors LeVar Burton and Sean Penn, as well as NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Minutes before Kenyan President William Ruto’s black-tie reception on Thursday, the White House revealed the names on the exclusive guest list, which also includes Don McLean, Huma Abedin, philanthropist Melinda French Gates, and “NCIS” star Wilmer Valderrama.
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First Lady Jill Biden described the occasion, the Biden administration’s sixth state dinner, as a celebration to “mark the 60th anniversary of the United States’ partnership with Kenya.”
Brad Paisley, a country music singer, and the Howard Gospel Choir will play during the dinner, which will take place in a tent on the South Lawn.
Guests will enjoy a midsummer feast of chilled tomato soup, butter-poached lobster, and marinated short ribs with kale and roasted corn. Dessert will consist of handcrafted white chocolate baskets painted with the Kenyan and American flags, filled with nectarine paste and banana ganache, and topped with fresh raspberries and peaches.
The Kenya state dinner will be the first such event at the White House for an African country in more than a decade, with then-President George W. Bush hosting the president of Ghana in 2008.
