Five celebs who are big Arsenal fans as Joe Biden gets special gift from team

Arsenal is coming to President Joe Biden.

On July 10, the United States is hosting a Nato Summit at Washington D.C. making the historic 75th Anniversary of the Alliance. 32 Allies will be coming together for the occasion, with the United Kingdom being on of those Allies. Biden will host a bilateral meeting with the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer before his dinner with NATO Partners.

The Labour leader, who is also going to have one-on-one talks with the President, will be giving the 81-year-old an Arsenal football shirt with his surname on the back along with the number “46”, symbolizing his position as the 46th U.S. President. A senior Downing Street official said, “It’s his team and thought it would make a personal gift.” Starmer is a big Arsenal fan and attends the club’s games consistently. He is also a season ticket holder at the Emirates Stadium.

Lets check out the other American-based celebrities who are Arsenal fans.

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Anne Hathway

During the press run of Anne’s Amazon Prime romcom The Idea of You, it was discovered the actress was an Arsenal Fan. Her co-star Nicholas Galitzine initially revealed that fact in an interview with NowTV in March: “You know, a really fun fact: Anne Hathaway is a massive Arsenal supporter as well. I’m in a group chat with her family, who are all Arsenal supporters. [They’re] obsessed.”

Then in a viral clip of the two in a remote junket in April, Nick checked his phone and excitedly said, “One-nil” to which Anne gasped, clutching the arm of the chair she was sitting on. She asked. “Who scored,” to which the British actor responded that it was Trossard. This caused the mother-of-two to shout, “Ohhh, I love you!” The two continued to chat about the goal before the journalist came into view to which they apologized for and explained they are both fans of Arsenal in addition to there being a match at the time.

The two were then surprised by a video message from the team’s FC winger Leandro Trossard on The Today Show on April 29. Anne couldn’t believe it and said she was “shaking” after receiving the message and Nick talked about being “star-struck” more by athletes than “anything else.” They also confirmed to anchor Savannah Guthrie that Arsenal is also called Gunners.

Rihanna

The Bajan beauty attended a match at the Emirates back in February 2018 when Arsenal hosted Everton. Arsenal won 5-1 over Everton winners that evening. Rihanna met with the team first hand and got to see the behind the scenes.

She was invited behind the scenes at the game that day and asked if she was Gooner on the field. After clarifying that’s what Arsenal fans are called, she agreed she was a Gooner. The Love on the Brain singer was also pictured meeting Sead Kolasinac, Mesut Ozil and Shkodran Mustafi.

Kevin Costner

The actor attended the Premier League victory over Burnley in 2014 while filming The Criminal in London and he declared his love for the Gunners and explained how that love came to be.

“I found myself making movies and that often brings me to London and when I get a chance, I like to watch this team,” he said in an Arsenal video. “I was making Robin Hood 25 years ago and I said ‘I wanted to go see somebody play’ and we came to see Arsenal.

“It was at the old stadium and I can remember being taken with the emotion of it. I don’t pretend to be a super-fan or be very knowledgeable. They’re my team and when I come, I try and see them play,” he continued.

In a interview about his 2016 film The Criminal, he shared he wanted to include a nod to Arsenal in the movie by having his character wear Arsenal scarf during a scuffle followed by asking a kid if he’s fan of the Gunners too. Arsenal didn’t want the scene Kevin pitched because they thought it “promoted violence.”

Jay-Z

The rapper began supporting the club because of his friendship with iconic former Arsenal player Thierry Henry. In 2010, Jay-Z also expressed interest publicly in investing in Arsenal but wanted to be on the board and not a “back-seat investor.”

In an interview with Arsenal Magazine, Jay-Z clarified that he was not a Manchester City fan but was a Gooner. He explained how he became an Arsenal fan. “It was about five years ago now,” he said. “When Thierry Henry was at the club I saw him play and I just thought he was an amazing player.”

“Ever since then I have been a big fan of the club, following you guys, and still today you play the beautiful football that Thierry did. I think he had a real long term-effect on the team,” The 54-year-old added.

In 2013, he attended a Arsenal game against Manchester United which ended in a draw with friend and Coldplay frontman, Chris Martin. Jay-Z did not end up buying shares of the team.

Spike Lee

In an interview with Labour MP David Lammy on JOE’s Unfiltered podcast in 2018, the director talked about being an Arsenal fan which Lammy called a “flaw” since he’s a Spur fan. Spike stated he was going to the Arsenal game against Chelsea with actor Clive Owens.

Similarly to Jay-Z’s reasoning, The Brooklyn native explained that it was Thierry who made him support the North London team, he was his “in to Arsenal.”

“That was my in Arsenal. And then we became friends too. Come on, don’t hate me for that, Spike exclaimed “Thierry Henry!”