Michael Jordan, Diana Ross, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Ellen Degeneres were among the most elite celebrities in sports, entertainment and business who participated in the White House Mannequin Challenge at the Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony on Tuesday.
During the ceremony, actress Tracee Ellis Ross filmed the challenge on Instagram which features DeNiro, Hanks, Ellen DeGeneres, Kareem, Gates Diana Ross and Michael Jordan.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian honor awarded by a president. Among the 21 recipients were philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates, actors Tom Hanks and Roberto De Niro, Michael Jordan, Ellen DeGeneres, Bruce Springsteen and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Cicely Tyson and and Robert Redford.
Before presenting the award to Jordan, President Obama mentioned that the former basketball superstar was way more than just the viral “Crying Jordan” meme for his contributions to the sports and fashion.
President Obama: Michael Jordan is more than just an Internet meme. #CryingJordan #MedalofFreedom pic.twitter.com/I4pCgpfuqL
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) November 22, 2016
The “Mannequin Challenge” is the latest online craze that has had the Internet going nuts over the past couple of weeks with people as diverse as high school kids, professional athletes and even politicians posting videos to social media of themselves looking as though they’ve been frozen in time.
Made popular with Rae Sremmurd’s “Black Beatles” featuring Gucci Mane playing in the background, the Mannequin Challenge has been accepted by everyone from Hillary Clinton to Destiny’s Child and even Paul McCartney.
