A Hamptons fund-raiser for President Obama attended by Joe Biden turned into a long afternoon when the vice president turned up more than two hours later than guests — prompting some VIPs to leave before he took the stage.
Nathan Lan
e hosted the fund-raiser yesterday at the Bridgehampton home of Ellen Chesler and Matthew Mallow. Hosts included Julianne Moore, Amy Sullivan and Jane Holzer.
One guest told us, “All attendees were told to be at the house by 2:30 p.m., for security reasons. But Biden didn’t turn up until well after 5 p.m. When everyone arrived, they were told Biden hadn’t even landed yet; his plane was too big to land nearby. This prompted some to turn around and leave. Russell Simmons was a host but walked out after 10 minutes.”
As the guests waited, they were treated to a 45-minute performance by James Taylor and speeches by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg.
VIPs who paid up to $10,000 a ticket and waited for Biden to show included Joy Behar, Roger Waters, Jay McInerney, Du Jour’s J
ason Binn and wife Haley, BookHampton’s Charlene Spector and Almond Restaurant’s Eric Lemonides. They were finally allowed to wait inside Chesler and Mallow’s home. Witnesses said two other people passed out in the hot, sun-baked tent before Biden showed.
When he finally took the stage, Biden said of his lateness, “I had a speech for you, but it’s not fair of me [to talk too long] . . . I am shocked everyone stayed. In college if my professor was 20 minutes late, I’d be out of the classroom.”
He attacked Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan over their economic proposals, and joked that Republicans love bumper stickers. He said his sticker would be “Osama bin Laden is dead and GM is alive.”
While sources insisted Simmons never intended to stay all afternoon, he told us, “After seeing the GOP vice-presidential choice and hearing Romney’s and his VP’s horrible positions on education health care, taxes and especially money in politics . . . I’m so committed to getting the president re-elected.”