by After taking considerable heat from the press for hosting a, what the press called, “secret” Halloween theme party at the White House in 2009, Obama is fighting back.
No Intention of Hiding
President Obama’s spokesman, Jay Carney, called the reports about the party, which allegedly featured the movie star Johnny Depp and an “Alice in Wonderland” theme, “irresponsible.” The spokesman said that there was never any effort made or intention to hide the party from the scrutiny of the public.
“There are outlets that have reported this as a secret party, which is just silly — it’s irresponsible reporting to suggest that you would have a pool report and the press at an event that’s secret” said the White House Press Secretary. Carney added that photos of Johnny Depp were available from the party. “This wasn’t a publicity event, this was an event for military children,” Carney also noted.
Jodi Kantor’s Book
All the trouble was caused by Jodi Kantor, a reporter for the New York Times and
the author of “The Obamas.” In the book Kantor recounts the “Alice in Wonderland” party in the following manner:
“White House officials were so nervous about how a splashy, Hollywood-esque party would look to jobless Americans — or their representatives in Congress, who would soon vote on health care, that the event was not discussed publicly and [movie director Tim] Burton’s and Depp’s contributions went unacknowledged.”
