The DNC is set to have celebrity hosts every night during its convention in Chicago, a convention official confirmed to USA TODAY. Tony Goldwyn opened the convention Monday night, "The View" co-host Ana Navarro hosted Tuesday, Mindy Kaling hosted Wednesday and Kerry Washington — the Olivia Pope to Goldwyn's President Fitz on " Scandal " — will host Thursday.
Other stars have popped in with appearances and performances. Soul legend Patti LaBelle and Chicago's own Grammy-winning rapper Common brought the convention down on convention Day 2, and Stevie Wonder serenaded Democrats on Day 3. Stars like Eva Longoria , Lil Jon and Spike Lee repped their state during the convention roll call on Tuesday.
Read on for all the stars who are making an appearance in Chicago.
The Democratic National Convention is a star-studded affair, and Kerry Washington is among those set to make an appearance. Jamie McCarthy, Getty Images for Tribeca Festiva
'Scandal' stars Tony Goldwyn, Kerry Washington frequent real-world politics
Washington is no stranger to political engagement. When Democratic nominee Kamala Harris announced her campaign, Washington said on X that Harris "can and will win this," adding, "I believe in her and I believe in us. Let's gooooooooooooo!"
Washington was a vocal supporter of Barack Obama 's campaign in 2012, speaking at that year's convention, and Hillary Clinton 's campaign in 2016. Washington has also played host before at the virtual DNC in 2020, after campaigning for Joe Biden with her husband Nnamdi Asomugha that year.
The actress has also used her "Scandal" fame to push for voter registration. In 2020, Washington posted a three-second clip to X, formerly Twitter , of her character Olivia Pope sharing a passionate kiss with President Fitz (Goldwyn) and captioned it "SCANDAL THE MOVIE. Click the link for more info." The link did not have any more info but rather led to a voter registration website.
Tony Goldwyn speaks during the first day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center. The DNC program will feature President Joe Biden and Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during Monday's ceremonies. Jasper Colt, USA TODAY
Goldwyn currently stars as Manhattan district attorney Nicholas Baxter on " Law & Order " and is an ambassador for The Innocence Project. In 2016, he directed a commercial lending support to the Clinton campaign featuring stars from the ShondaLand extended universe, including Washington, Ellen Pompeo , Viola Davis and Shonda Rhimes herself.
Goldwyn and Washington spent seven seasons on "Scandal" as the president of the United States and his crisis manager, respectively.
Political commentator Ana Navarro speaks during the second day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center. Jasper Colt, USA TODAY
'The Office' star Mindy Kaling, 'The View' co-host Ana Navarro host DNC
Navarro is a political strategist and commentator, and a noted Republican, though she has been a vocal critic of Trump, calling him a racist for his comments about immigrants. The " Never Trumper " has also criticized politicians with ties to Trump, such as Ron DeSantis, and said she voted for Hilary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020.
Kaling co-chaired a fundraiser event with Reese Witherspoon, hosted by Harris for Biden's campaign in 2020. In 2019, she appeared on Harris' YouTube channel where the pair cooked masala dosa together.
Stevie Wonder, John Legend, Maren Morris perform on DNC's 3rd day
Music icon Stevie Wonder made an appearance at the convention on Wednesday, getting the crowd excited by performing 1972's "Higher Ground."
Elsewhere in the night, John Legend covered Prince and The Revolution's 1984 hit "Let's Go Crazy" with the late singer's protege and collaborator Sheila E . for a hyped-up crowd.
Oprah attacks JD Vance 'childless cat lady' comments at DNC
Media mogul Oprah Winfrey made a surprise appearance at the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night, and called on independents and undecideds to vote with their values and choose Vice President Harris.
"We are not so different from our neighbors. When a house is on fire, we don't ask about the homeowner's race or religion. We don't wonder who their partner is or how they voted, no," Winfrey said. "We just try to do the best we can to save them. And if the place happens to belong to a childless cat lady, well, we try to get that cat out too."
Oprah Winfrey speaks during the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center. Mike De Sisti, USA TODAY
Kenan Thompson rips 'Project 2025'
" Saturday Night Live " comedian Kenan Thompson made an appearance at the convention on Wednesday, using his time on stage to critique " Project 2025 ," the 900-page, conservative presidential transition document.
Thompson called the document the "terms and conditions of a second Trump presidency."
"You ever seen a document that could kill a small animal and democracy at the same time? Here it is," he said, later speaking to Americans who would be affected by the proposed Republican policy vision.
Kenan Thompson speaks about Project 2025 during the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center. Jasper Colt, USA TODAY
One of the individuals, Becky, said she has been married to her wife for nearly eight years. The comedian noted that he had "bad news" for her, saying Project 2025 "calls for the elimination of protections for LGBTQ+ Americans" and would put Americans "back to the Stone Age."
Thompson noted: "You can stop (Project 2025) from ever happening by electing Kamala Harris as the next president of the United States."
Former President Donald Trump 's campaign has worked to build distance from the project, which the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, led with contributions from dozens of conservative groups.
The soul-pop icon and the Oscar-winning rapper both performed on Day 2 of the Democratic convention. LaBelle performed her 1977 record "You Are My Friend" and signed off with, "God bless America, Kamala Harris!"
Meanwhile, Common performed his song "Fortunate" with gospel singer Jonathan McReynolds, who also performed his track "God Is Good."
Patti LaBelle performs during the second day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center. Mark Hoffman, USA TODAY
"I thank God for this moment in time, where Kamala Harris will change the world for the better," Common told the crowd. "With love, hope and grace, we fortune."
Lil Jon got the crowd going in Day 2's convention roll call, representing his home state of Georgia as the state's delegates cast their vote for the Democratic nominee (a practice that is more symbolic, as the real nomination has already taken place ).
As DJ Cassidy announced it was the Peach State's turn in the call, cameras panned to Lil Jon, who performed his 2013 hit record with DJ Snake, "Turn Down for What."
Lil Jon performs during the roll call for Georgia during the second day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center. Jasper Colt, Jasper Colt-USA TODAY
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are here tonight to officially nominate Kamala Harris for president," he told the onlooking crowd before chanting: "We're not going back!"
The rapper and DJ then performed "Get Low," his 2002 record with The East Side Boyz, and cleverly replaced the "walls" lyric with vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz's name.
Other stars who made an appearance during the roll call included Wendell Pierce representing Louisiana, Eva Longoria representing Texas and Spike Lee representing New York.
Mickey Guyton and Jason Isbell kick off DNC 2024 with performances
The DNC called on some of music's biggest stars to help kick off this year's convention.
Country music star Mickey Guyton and Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Jason Isbell performed at the Democratic convention's opening night on Monday.
Ahead of her performance, Guyton shared her excitement about her DNC appearance in an Instagram post Monday. "I’m so honored to be performing TONIGHT on the DNC," she wrote. "Y’all tune in!"
James Taylor addresses scrapped performance at DNC 2024
Folk legend James Taylor was scheduled to perform at the opening night of the 2024 DNC alongside Guyton and Isbell.
Taylor was set to be a part of the 9 p.m. block of programming, but the "Fire and Rain" singer was notably absent from the Day 1 lineup.
DNC officials later revealed in a statement that "raucous applause" from the convention's audience led to schedule delays that caused them to skip "elements of our program."
Taylor's publicist Allison Elbl told USA TODAY in an email Tuesday that "there are no plans to reschedule" the singer's performance.
Taylor apologized for the scrapped performance in an Instagram post Tuesday, adding that he was "honored" to attend the convention.
Contributing: Edward Segarra and Rasha Ali , USA TODAY ; Samantha Putterman, PolitiFact.com
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Local Chicago, IL
Most Popular
Comments / 0