Hollywood heads to Chicago for the Democratic convention, as Beyoncé and Taylor Swift speculation swirls | CNN Politics (2024)

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When Barack Obama accepted his presidential nomination at the 2008 DemocraticNational Convention in Denver, Jennifer Lopez was in town, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garnerattended the proceedings together, and Kanye West performed at an Obama campaign party.

Four conventions later, many things are different in Hollywood – but the A-list enthusiasm for theparty’spresidentialticket remains the same.

Not since the Obama years has celebrity enthusiasm been so high, merging the world of pop culture and politics as the race tokicksinto high gear with this week’sDemocratic convention in Chicago.

John Legend – who performed at the2008 and 2020conventions– is set to headline a showTuesday for IllinoisGov.JB Pritzker. On Wednesday afternoon, “Veep” star Julia Louis-Dreyfus ishosting a panelwith the country’s eight female Democratic governors. And on Wednesday night, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts will perform at a benefit concert thrown by the Creative Coalition, a Hollywood advocacy nonprofit. Notable actors expected to attend include Tim Daly, Uzo Aduba, Anthony Anderson, Iain Armitage, Yvette Nicole Brown, David Cross, Jon Cryer, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Danai Gurira, Richard Kind, Busy Philipps and Sheryl Lee Ralph.

High-profile speakers are still being finalized, multiple sourcestoldCNN, adding that a slew of actors will speak on the convention’s main stage. But speculation has run rampant on two stars in particular: Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.

With no major performer announced, fans of both Beyoncé and Swift are hopeful that the women – who bothendorsed the Biden-Harris ticketin 2020– will show up in Chicago.

Representatives for Swift and Beyoncé did not respond to CNN’s numerous requests for comment.

Spokespeople for the DNC and the Harris campaign would not comment on the rumors surrounding the twomegastars.

CNN previouslyreported that Beyoncé gave Harris an early stamp of approval by signing off on thevicepresidentusing hersong“Freedom”in Harris’ campaign– so it’s not implausible thatBeyoncémight perform the songinperson.

Beyoncé has a history of performing for Democratic politicians. In 2013, she sang the national anthem at Obama’sinauguration. In 2016, along with her husband, Jay-Z, sheheadlined a preelection concert forHillaryClintonin Clevelandwith her backup dancers dressed in blue pantsuits to honorthe womanwho could have been the first female president.

Now, with another potential first female president on the ticket, will“Queen Bey”take the stage?

Swift – who has yet tomake apresidential endorsem*nt this election cycle – is in the midst ofafive-night run of shows in London to cap off the European leg of her “Eras Tour.” The superstar wraps at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday, or Day 2 of the convention, meaning she could theoretically be in Chicago by Wednesday for the final two nights.

Swift recently fueled fan theories that she had already endorsed Harris when a woman’s silhouette pictured onstage behind herappeared to depict the vice president. But CNNdebunked that theorylast week, reporting that the silhouette in question was one of Swift’s background singers.

Swift’s army of fans –theSwifties – never miss a beat, andthis week’s conventionwill be no different. Even without Swift, her presence will be felt through her fansin Chicago.

As part of the convention’s “DemPalooza” – public events and trainings– the Democratic National Committee announcedthere will be spaces where attendees can make friendship bracelets. Beaded bracelets are often traded betweenSwiftfansat her concerts – inspired by the lyricsto“You’re on Your Own, Kid” fromthe singer’salbum “Midnights.”

There’s alsoSwifties for Kamala, a substantial coalition of Swift fanswhoorganically mobilized online on the night that PresidentJoeBiden dropped out of the race endorsed Harris in July. Swiftis not affiliated with the group.

IreneKim, a co-founder of the group, saidthe Harris campaign has been in touch.“They reached out to us asking how they can support in our initiative,” Kim told CNN.Kim said the group was invited through the DNC’s content creator initiative but that she won’t be able tomake it to Chicago.

Carly Long, the group’s external communications director,told CNN it is “looking forward to partnering with the campaign moving forward to continue to harness that excitement and help new folks volunteer or even vote for the first time.”

Earlier this month,convention organizersannounced theywould credentialmore than200 content creators to cover theevent, marking a strategic effort to reach younger voters across social media – anda recognition bythe Harris campaignof how the landscape of political influencers has dramatically changed.

While A-listers(especiallyofthe stature of SwiftorBeyoncé)make noise, the definition of celebrity is evolving.The high-profile attendees will be starry, but perhaps more importantly, the crowd will likely break a record for social media follower count on the convention room floor.

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Swifties for Kamala was invited to the DNC through its content creator initiative.