Mayor Pete Snubbed Leonardo DiCaprio Presidential Debate Offer

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U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg snubbed an offer from Academy Award winner Leonardo DiCaprio to help prepare for a presidential debate during the 2020 campaign, Buttigieg’s former senior communications director told TMZ.

Leonardo DiCaprio has never held political office, though the actor has been heavily vocal on issues like climate change. Former Buttigieg campaign official Lis Smith revealed the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana was offered a private coaching session before a televised debate by DiCaprio, but the then-mayor did not even ask for the actor’s number.

The offer was made in October 2019 when Buttigieg had a celebrity-filled Los Angeles fundraiser back when he still thought he had a chance at spinning his short history as mayor into being president. Paris Hilton and others attended the affair, also convinced then Buttigieg still had a chance in the packed race that Joe Biden would end up taking.

According to Smith, Buttigieg is not very pop culturally aware and he hardly recognized the celebrities who showed up at his fundraiser.

TMZ reported:

Lis says Pete appreciated the Hollywood support, and the millions of dollars in donations that came pouring into his campaign, but he was never one to closely follow pop culture and barely recognized the celebs.

DiCaprio offered to help Buttigieg organize his talking points and coach him on his speaking style, but the offer was snubbed. Smith said she was “beside” herself when she learned Buttigieg cold-shouldered the offer and did ask DiCaprio for his number. The actor at the time was just coming off of the box office mash Once Upon a Time in Hollywood from filmmaker Quentin Tarantino.

Buttigieg went on to become Transportation Secretary, and DiCaprio went on to film the Netflix movie Don’t Look Up, which became one of the most-watched films in the streaming platform’s history.