Ava DuVernay Explains What Goes on During Obama’s Secret Parties

Appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday night to promote her new OWN series Queen Sugar, director Ave DuVernay quickly got to telling tales out of school about a recent birthday party she attended. A birthday party at the White House for President Barack Obama. A birthday party at the White House for President Barack Obama that featured a dance battle between Usher, Janelle Monae, and Stephen Colbert.

We’ll give you a moment to collect your thoughts. While the above sentence does indeed sound like a game of Mad Libs where every blank space said “[Liberal Celebrity],” this actually happened. It should surprise nobody that Ava DuVernay is an expert storyteller, so you should really just hear her tell it in her own words.

DuVernay describes a “top secret party” attended by a who’s who of celebrities — McCartney! Ellen! — in what already sounds like a surreal environment. And that’s before Usher and Janelle Monae decide to start dance battling. Which, I mean, it’s Usher and Janelle Monae; two excellent dancers! It’s only natural that their outsize dance talents would one day bump up against each other and result in an epic dance battle. That the venue was the White House, with Barack and Michelle presiding over the events must have only imbued the proceedings with even more grandeur. “Then,” DuVernay continues, “who steps into this middle of the dance battle?”

So. How was YOUR last birthday party?