Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” came out in January and broke pretty much every record out there for streaming, downloads, charts, everything. She became a pop culture phenomenon almost instantly – even if you were unfamiliar with High School Musical, every single person quickly learned the background of Olivia’s hit song. “Drivers License” was featured in a Saturday Night Live skit, and then Olivia guested on SNL to perform. She’s getting magazine covers and celebrity profiles and tons of attention. My point? It’s weird that so many Washington, DC people were like “who??” when we learned on Tuesday that Olivia would visit the White House.
I have no idea how long it took to put this visit together, but it seemed to come together pretty dang quickly. President Biden’s current push is to convince teenagers and people in their early 20s to all get vaccinated. So instead of sending out a bunch of grey-haired doctors to speak to the youths, the Biden White House sought young celebrities to use their platforms. Which is where Olivia comes in! She was invited to appear at the White House and speak at the Press Room’s podium about youth vaccinations.
She did a million times better than I would have, speaking in front of the White House press corps and Jen Psaki, on national/international television! She’s a sweetheart and I loved that she did this. It’s incredibly cool to see that people in the Biden White House were smart enough and culturally attuned enough to put this together. Hell, it might have even been Joe Biden himself – he has a million grandkids and I’m sure his granddaughters were like “Pop-pop, listen to this great song, it’s by Olivia Rodrigo!” And he liked it!
Olivia also recorded a video for the @POTUS social media, which I’m including below. Fashion notes: Olivia wore a vintage (1995) Chanel suit and platform sandals. The sandals got a lot of commentary, but again… y’all need to think about the sh-t we wore when we were 18 years old. Maybe she truly thought the sandals were amazing. Anyway, all of these photos are incredibly cute. I’m very proud of her!
Thanks for stopping by, Olivia, and for using your voice to urge young people to get vaccinated. If we all do our part and get the COVID-19 vaccine, we can defeat this virus once and for all. Let’s do this. pic.twitter.com/ovn12CUjLu
— President Biden (@POTUS) July 15, 2021
Olivia Rodrigo arrives to the White House to encourage young people to get vaccinated. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/qC9BkteSgz
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) July 14, 2021
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
I am an old, but anything/anyone that gets the youths on board with vaccines is ace in my book. She did great 👍🏻
This is great! Good call everyone who was a part of making this happen.
I’m also in awe of her walking in those shoes. I’m fine with a decent heel but some years back at a party I tried a friends platform shoes and honestly, it was like watching one of the baby antelope in the wildlife documentaries, I was all over the place.
I’m probably old enough to be her mother but I just love her music. Good for her speaking.
The platforms? I don’t care what she wears. Good on her. I hope kids listen. She did great.
Q anon is probably gonna come after her. It’s a cult. Anyone unfamiliar should go to Reddit and check out Qanoncasualties
So smart. This is what Biden does best. Network, organize, get other people to help, delegate. And he’s great at picking the right people for the job, which doesn’t seem like it would be that hard, pick a young well-known celebrity to promote youth vaccinations, but for lots of other politicians, that would never occur to them.
I absolutely love Good4U.
Her visit is like a throwback for me, back in the days prior to 2016 when these kinds of things happened regularly and the White House was supported by the culture and vice versa. Lovely on her and while the look isn’t my look, I respect the fact she dressed for her generation and not mine!!
I think this is great! She did well, seems like Biden is a hip grandpa and I’m glad they made this happen. Maybe it’ll influence some people. I thought her outfit was very “Clueless” chic which is so in again right now.
I don’t know how anyone could be like “Olivia who?” Anymore. She has been breaking records and has been all over the media. Even my husband, who doesn’t really consume media, knows who she is.
I finally broke down and bought her album a month ago because “good 4 u” is such an ear worm. It’s so so good. She is extremely talented. I’m a good 20 years older than her and I’m in awe of her songwriting and ability to produce music that’s relatable to a wide audience.
I think it’s awesome that she did this. Love her music and she seems like a really sweet person, too. Yay Olivia!
Well done to Olivia. She did wonderfully and I thank her so much for that, as well as President Biden, and to all who arranged to make it happen! Excellent. Hopefully this will have an impact. And again, great job Olivia!