The cast of “Veep” reunited Sunday for a live reunion and table read to raise money for Kamala Harris and Wisconsin Democrats. Special guests included Kumail Nanjiani, who joked to event host Stephen Colbert of his role in the live read, “I’m Pakistani American, but I can play cat-eating immigrants from all over the world.” The stream also opened up with another shot at the Donald Trump-JD Vance debunked story about immigrants allegedly eating pets, with a graphic noting that no cats or dogs were harmed in the making of the reunion.
In addition to Nanjiani and Colbert, special guests Larry David, Jason Alexander, Kevin Smith and Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin joined cast members Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tony Hale, Anna Chlumsky, Reid Scott, Timothy Simons, Sam Richardson, Matt Walsh, Gary Cole, Sarah Sutherland, Clea DuVall and Sufe Bradshaw. Alexander played Joe Thornhill, Smith played members of the press and Baldwin played Wendy Keegan, originally portrayed by Kathy Najimy.
The event was not without its technical difficulties. David seemed unaware early on of how to unmute his mic, which prompted Colbert to joke, “Larry, this is going swimmingly. Who’d have thought Larry David would have technological issues? It’s very important that we hear you. Larry, is anyone else having trouble hearing Larry?”
The broadcast glitched in and out, with pauses of several seconds at times as well as frequent echoes on different cast members’ mics. A number of other cast members also struggled with remembering to unmute themselves before delivering their lines. At one point, David commented, “I could watch you do this all day.”
Tech-related issues aside, the cast clearly enjoyed reliving the Season 3 episode “Crate,” in which Louis-Dreyfus’ Vice President Selina Meyer finds out she is going to be president of the United States. Clips of the scene circulated widely after President Joe Biden announced his decision to drop out of the 2024 election, with Harris taking his spot at the top of the ticket.
Creator Armando Iannucci joined the event for the post-table read Q&A, in which he discussed the similarities between Harris’ rise to the top of the ticket and the episode. Patton Oswalt also made a surprise appearance during the Q&A.
The reunion was introduced by cast member Matt Walsh, who noted, “For those of you that don’t know, ‘Veep’ was a political satire show that ran from 2012 to 2019. Many of the ideas you will see tonight may seem far-fetched, like candidates getting in trouble and feeling shame and/or remorse. Well, that was really what things were like back then.”
He added, “In addition, because of the similarities between vice president Kamala Harris becoming the Democratic nominee for president and Selina Meyer becoming president, many people assume that Kamala Harris is Selina Meyer. I am here to say that she 100% is not. She is not Kamala Harris. Kamala Harris is not Selina Meyer. And Selina Meyer is not Kamala Harris. Selina Meyer is, however, one of the other candidates running for president this year. Selina Meyer is Donald Trump. That’s right, I read that correctly.”
Fans were just as enthusiastic as the performers. A live chat ran next to the screen throughout the table read, which allowed fans of the show to share their thoughts on the show and the 2024 election. A person commenting under the name Adam Bresson wrote, “Thank you to everyone who is participating! Such incredible moxy and heart from everyone here. This is the real America — coming together for democracy.”
The event, which was designed to raise money for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, quickly exceeded its initial goal of $500,000, breaking its next $525,000 goal within 20 minutes of the performance beginning. By the time the table read ended ahead of a Q&A, the amount raised stood at $557,822. They also held a raffle at VeepContest.com with raffle tickets available for numerous “Veep”-related prizes, such as autographed posters and a Zoom with Louis-Drefyus herself.
You can watch the event’s livestream in the video above.
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