Down The Rabbit Hole: White House Says "Alice" Themed Mad Hatter Tea Party Wasn't A Secret

Not giving reporters full details about White House events "is different from trying to hide anything," says Press Secretary Jay Carney...
The White House on Monday had Press Secretary Jay Carney and communications assistant Eric Schultz as the knights on patrol to refute details in Jodi Kantor's forthcoming book "The Obamas." Both asserted that the White House did not keep secret the Alice in Wonderland "Mad Hatter Tea Party" hosted by President Obama and First Lady Obama for Halloween 2009, which featured the State Dining Room decorated by film director Tim Burton, and film star Johnny Depp on hand as the Mad Hatter. Carney and Schultz both said the event was well covered by media, and thus the White House was not trying to cover it up. It was well covered, but the fact is that no White House aides told reporters on the record that Burton and Depp were partying on October 31, 2009, with the First Family. Nor did they mention that so, too, were the rest of Burton's entourage, including "Alice" herself, actress Mia Wasikowska. (Above: The First Family with Depp, Burton and Wasikowska)

"There are outlets that have reported this as a “secret” party, which is just silly," Carney said during the daily press briefing, and called this "irresponsible" journalism. He even claimed that "it was contemporaneously known" that Depp and Burton attended the party.

Then how to explain that their presence at the White House has been headline news across the mediasphere since the excerpt from Kantor's book was first posted? Even Depp and Burton's "hometown newspaper"--The Hollywood Reporter--reported the story as fresh news on Monday. Schultz did his pushback on the White House blog, in a post titled "Gossip in Wonderland."

In 2009, there were also no details from White House aides about Deep Roy--the famous Oompa Loompa from Burton/Depp's Willy Wonka film--being at the White House. No one from the White House mentioned that Depp was standing on a table in the State Dining Room entertaining the children of military families and White House staff, as well as First Daughters Malia and Sasha and their pals. (Above: Depp, Burton, and the "Alice" gang with First Dog Bo in one of the White House reception rooms; Deep Roy is hugging Bo)

No one at the White House went on the record about bone-shaped meringue cookies and fruit juice masquerading as "vials of blood" for ghoulish treats, which Kantor reported.

Power struggles...
Kantor, who interviewed 33 current and former aides for her book, didn't report that the Halloween event was totally secret--just the Mad Hatter part, concealed, she wrote, due to fear of backlash during tough economic times.

“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," Kantor wrote. "And Burton’s and Depp’s contributions went unacknowledged."

In her book--which I have read--Kantor details a power struggle between the East and West Wings, with Mrs. Obama clashing with the President's Senior Advisors, in particular former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and former Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. Kantor writes that the West Wing was in a constant state of anxiety over the kind of elegant, lavish entertaining the East Wing was doing, and thus former Social Secretary Desiree Rogers' hard work to create the Halloween event--including inviting Burton and Depp--had to be kept off the record.

"This time, the in-house debate about entertaining had resulted in an awkward stalemate," Kantor wrote. "Rogers and the East Wing had put a great deal of effort into the party, but the more they did, the more internal anxiety they caused."

Through the looking glass...
Carney and Schultz's efforts to debunk the idea that the party was secret were disingenuous. They both pointed to the fact that there was a pool report about the event, and a briefing by Gibbs previewing the event, as well as photos posted to the official White House Flickr and a White House video of the Halloween party (these are here). But NONE of these mention or contain images of Burton, Depp, or the Tea Party. Schultz praised the pool report as "extremely detailed and colorful." It was indeed, yet it lacked the crucial information that is now making headline news.

After being quizzed by reporters about why no Mad Hatter details were revealed, Carney at last came up with a reason.

"We do a lot of these things--July 4th, other events here--events that are geared towards military families and their kids, where the purpose isn’t to publicize them externally for you guys, but to have a nice event for them here, which is different from trying to hide anything," Carney said.

The Obama Administration bills itself as "the most transparent Administration in history," and has spent plenty of time praising itself for the fact that the names of visitors are publicly posted on logs that are available at WhiteHouse.gov. But neither Burton nor Depp's names show up in the official White House visitor log for October 31, 2009. A White House aide on Monday told Buzzfeed.com "that's because performers don't always go through the formal White House entrance procedure."

It should also be noted that none of the reporters in the briefing room were aware that, as Carney asserted, there were photos of Depp and Burton at the White House that were "instantly available."

"To who?" and "where?" reporters called out when Carney said this. Obama Foodorama was sent the photos appearing here early on Monday, and no one working here had ever seen them before.

In the rear-view mirror...
The White House is now mopping up an info situation left over by staff who are long gone. Not only are Gibbs, Emanuel, and Rogers in the Obamas' rear-view mirror, but so are the First Lady's own former Chief of Staff, Communications Director, and Press Secretary from 2009, as well as other aides. There were other instances during 2009 when White House reporters later discovered they had not been given the full information about an event. It was Year One for the Administration, and staff was "still figuring out where the light switches are," as Mrs. Obama herself said last year.

The Mad Hatter Tea Party is just one of hundreds of social events the President and First Lady have hosted. As such, it is minor in the grand scheme of things. Still, selectively doling out information to reporters speaks to an overall approach to "transparency" that's sometimes as filled with cobwebs as the North Portico was in 2009.

Schultz's White House post on the topic, "Gossip in Wonderland," is here. He does not mention Depp, Burton, or anyone in Burton's entourage by name. He does mention rabbit holes. Perhaps that is where the information reporters aren't told is stored. (Above: Another group shot of Depp, Burton, and their entourage at the White House)

The White House video from Halloween 2009:



*The photographer for these photos is unidentified

Burton, Depp Help The Obamas Host Secret "Alice in Wonderland" Mad Hatter Tea Party

Director Tim Burton does decorating duty; actor Johnny Depp emcees as Mad Hatter; George Lucas sends Chewbacca; vials of blood and bone-shaped meringues served as treats, according to Jodi Kantor's "The Obamas"...
UPDATE, Jan. 9: Party wasn't a secret, says White House
The White House was quick to dismiss Jodi Kantor's forthcoming "The Obamas" as an "overdramatization of old news," but there's plenty of new tidbits in the book, which hits stores on Jan. 10th. The New York Post is the latest to publish details from an advance copy, and re-tells Kantor's story about a lavish private costume ball that President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama hosted for Halloween 2009, kept top secret for fear of backlash since the rest of America was struggling with recession. The “Alice in Wonderland” themed party was put on by filmmaker Tim Burton and actor Johnny Depp, who served as emcee, clad as the Mad Hatter. At the behest of the Obamas, director George Lucas even sent the original “Star Wars” character Chewbacca to mingle with invited guests, according to Kantor. The White House released an official photo of Chewbacca with Mr. and Mrs. Obama on the North Portico, as they handed out treat bags to local school kids before the party. A White House video about the Halloween fest was also released, but contained nothing about the Mad Hatter Tea Party. (Above, the Obamas with First Grandmother Marian Robinson and Chewbacca)

“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," Kantor wrote. "And Burton’s and Depp’s contributions went unacknowledged."

The unemployment rate was about 10% at the time of the party, which was for children of military personnel and White House staffers, and came after the trick-or-treating. The White House allowed the media to observe the Presidential treat fest under the North Portico, and then the President's press pool was briefly allowed in to the East Room for the beginning of the party, but rushed out after just a few minutes. Unbeknownst to the press, Burton had transformed the State Dining Room, located on the other side of the historic building, into a Mad Hatter's Tea Party, according to Kantor. Burton's film version of Alice in Wonderland, starring Depp, was about to hit theaters. (Above: A publicity photo of Depp as the Mad Hatter)

Burton decorated the East Room "in his signature creepy-comic style...with a long table set with antique-looking linens, enormous stuffed animals in chairs, and tiered serving plates with treats like bone-shaped meringue cookies,” Kantor writes. “Fruit punch was served in blood vials at the bar."

"Burton’s own Mad Hatter, the actor Johnny Depp, presided over the scene in full costume, standing up on a table to welcome everyone in character.”

Obama daughters Malia and Sasha, then 11 and 8 respectively, “sat at the table, surrounded by a gaggle of their friends, and then proceeded to the next delight, a magic show in the East Room,” Kantor writes.

Former Social Secretary Desiree Rogers was in charge of events when the Mad Hatter Tea Party took place. The President and Mrs. Obama, like other Presidential couples before them, have hosted other social events that are closed to the press, including two similar Halloween parties for children of military families, in 2010 and 2011.

Kantor, a New York Times correspondent, interviewed 33 current and former White House aides for the book, though she did not interview the President and Mrs. Obama. Her story focuses on contentious relationships between Mrs. Obama and some of the President's Senior Advisors, including former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. In the acknowledgments, Kantor writes that Gibbs, Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, the President's former top strategist David Axelrod, and Mrs. Obama's former chief of staff Susan Sher, as well as Obama Chicago friends Eric Whitaker and Marty Nesbitt "gave me many hours of interview time each." Click here for an excerpt of the book in The New York Times. (Above: Another official White House photo from Halloween 2009, with Mrs. Obama handing out treats in the East Room, across the building from where the Tea Party was held)

"The book, an overdramatization of old news, is about a relationship between two people whom the author has not spoken to in years," White House spokesman Eric Schultz said in a statement on Friday.

"The author last interviewed the Obamas in 2009 for a magazine piece, and did not interview them for this book. The emotions, thoughts and private moments described in the book, though often seemingly ascribed to the president and first lady, reflect little more than the author's own thoughts. These secondhand accounts are staples of every administration in modern political history and often exaggerated."

This White House video from Halloween 2009 shows President and Mrs. Obama speaking in the East Room rather than in the Mad Hatter'd State Dining Room:



*Photos by Pete Souza/White House; Depp photo by Disney Enterprises, INC. S/LMK