You want to know what real power looks like? Walking up to the President of the United States and calling him an asshole.
During the era of Donald Trump, sure, saying something like that could go very badly. But back in 2012, when politics was less of a bloodsport and President Barack Obama still lived in the White House, Anna Kendrick didn't just get away with it — she got the president laughing hysterically.
"I called him an asshole and scolded him for not knowing enough about the 50 states," Kendrick told Stephen Colbert during a Friday appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
The fun apparently started when Kendrick showed up extra-early for a meet-and-greet with President Obama. She was the first attendee there, so she started chatting with one of the president's Secret Service agents, who happened to be from Maine. (Kendrick is also a Mainer.)
This is relevant to the story.
During Obama's talk, he spotted Kendrick in the crowd and praised her for her role in Up in the Air, the 2009 movie in which she starred alongside George Clooney as a corporate downsizer-in-training. Then, during the meet-and-greet portion of the event, he brought up the movie again.
"So I shake his hand and he says, 'I hope I didn't embarrass you earlier.' And I was like, 'Yeah, you're such an asshole.'"
Pause for laughter.
"And he kinda laughs and says 'Oh, you're from Maine, aren't you?' And thinking about my conversation with the Secret Service agent I said, 'Yes! And I was the first person here.'"
Then she described her chat with the Secret Service agent, which prompted a question from the president: Are people from Maine really punctual?
"I was like, 'You didn't know that? You're the president.' So I called him an asshole and scolded him for not knowing enough about the 50 states. And that was what made him double over with laughter, yayyyyyy."
So there you have it. Now you have all the context needed to understand exactly what was going on in this years-old Instagram post from Kendrick.
