President Obama traveled to Glendale, Calif., on Tuesday for an economic event at the DreamWorks studio.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, DreamWorks head Jeffrey Katzenberg invited all the other major studio heads — along with many of their top deputies — for an hourlong summit with the president.
Earlier Monday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest defended hosting the event at the studio despite Katzenberg’s role as one of the president’s top campaign donors.
“Contributing to the president’s campaign or being a political supporter of the president doesn’t guarantee a presidential visit, but it shouldn’t exclude you from one either,” Earnest said.
“The fact of the matter is when the president goes to New York to talk about the economy, it’s not unusual for the president to speak on Wall Street. When the president goes to Detroit to talk about the economy, it’s not unusual for the president to appear at an auto manufacturing facility. … And in this case, it shouldn’t be particularly surprising that the president is going to talk about the economy and the important drivers of the economy in Southern California by appearing at an entertainment facility.”