The White House State Dinner on Feb. 11 in honor of a visit from French President François Hollande was off to a bit of an awkward start before it began. Hollande had recently broken up with longtime partner Valérie Trierweiler after rumors began to spread that he had cheated on her with a French actress, so the White House wasn't sure who he would bring along.
He solved the problem by going stag to greet an impressive guest list of 350 actors, politicians, CEOs, media moguls and more.
Comedian and television host Stephen Colbert was seated next to Michelle Obama, and actor Bradley Cooper spent time talking with Secretary of State John Kerry. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who plays a vice president on the HBO show, Veep, was seated next to actual Vice President Joe Biden, and actress Mindy Kaling was also in attendance.
Everyone was treated to a live Mary J. Blige performance and dined on quail eggs and Hawaiian chocolate-malted ganache, according to the New York Times.
“We love the United States and you love the French, but you don’t always say so because you are shy," Hollande reportedly said, through a translator, to chuckles from the audience.
Below, we've collected some of the best photos from the night. The full guest list is available here.
[nggallery id=14967 layout="list"]