When UFC chief Dana White told Time magazine he had personally reached out to some of Hollywood’s biggest names for the upcoming UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House, it sounded like a marquee celebrity guest list in the making. The reality has turned out rather differently.
A source close to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson confirmed to Vanity Fair that the actor and producer will not be attending the June 14 event on the South Lawn of the White House. Representatives for Adam Sandler, Jared Leto, and Mario Lopez have also confirmed their clients will not be there.
Spokespeople for the remaining names on White’s invitation list, including Guy Ritchie, Tom Brady, and Jason Statham, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Neither the White House nor the UFC responded to questions about the guest list.
White, however, appeared unfazed by the developments when discussing the event with Forbes.
“These are all guys that I’m friends with,” White said when asked about the celebrities whose names had surfaced in previous reports.
According to White, the list was put together through a collaboration with TKO co-CEO Ari Emanuel, whose company owns the UFC.
“Ari had a list. I had a list and obviously some of mine and Ari’s crossed over,” White explained.
Those invitations, he emphasized, came from him personally.
“Those were just some of the guys that I personally invited myself,” he said.
For White, celebrity attendance was never the primary goal. He made it clear that he would rather fill the South Lawn with genuine fans than famous faces attending out of obligation.
“What I would rather have is people who actually want to be there and people who are fans and people who want to see the fights,” White said.
He added that the celebrity outreach was relatively limited in scope.
“If you look at my celebrity invite list, it’s a handful,” he said. “We’re not inviting a bunch of different celebrities.”
Among the people White personally confirmed as invited are ultra-endurance athlete David Goggins and Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, both known UFC fans.
“I want fans there,” White said. “I want people that will actually appreciate it and people who like watching the UFC and would love to be a part of this incredible, one-of-one event.”
The reluctance among some entertainers to attend mirrors a broader trend that has followed President Trump’s second term. The wider America 250 celebration, of which UFC Freedom 250 is nominally a part, has faced repeated challenges attracting performers and celebrity participants.
A planned concert series on the National Mall reportedly collapsed after many artists withdrew, with several citing the event’s partisan associations. Trump responded by proposing a campaign-style rally as a replacement.
Writing on social media, Trump called the departing performers “Third Rate” and promised the replacement event would be “Wild.”
The handling of the celebration even drew criticism from some conservative voices.
“I’m actually pretty pissed at how badly they’ve bungled America 250,” Daily Wire host Matt Walsh wrote on X.
He argued that the event had strayed far from its original purpose.
“This should have been a massive, raucous celebration of the country and its 250-year history,” Walsh wrote. “Now it will be a political rally identical to the ten million other ones we’ve already seen.”
The UFC card itself is scheduled for June 14, which coincides with Flag Day and Trump’s 80th birthday. The main event is expected to feature American lightweight Justin Gaethje against Georgia’s Ilia Topuria, currently ranked second on the UFC pound-for-pound list.
