What Did Kelly Slater Do Today? Oh, Just Golfed With Former US President Barack Obama!
The GOAT and Barry cross steel shafts.
The waves were 8-10 foot and clean this morning on the North Shore.
John Florence nabbed some Backdoor bombs at dark. Kanoa Igarashi did the same at Haleiwa. But where, you ask, was Kelly Slater?
Well, as we’ve learned from American rapper Anderson Paak’s Instagram (of all places), Slater was golfing with former US President Barack Obama.
The audio says:
Kelly: Hey, uh, Anderson, what’s up bud? Got a friend here for ya.
Obama: Anderson, Kelly tells me you’re a friend, love your work man. Michelle loves your work. But most importantly, Malia and Sasha love it, so big Anderson Paak fans in the Obama household. Take care, man.
Kelly: Alright bud, see ya soon.
Now, we have a few questions here. First of all, who initiated the outing?
Despite Kelly’s status as the surfing GOAT, we doubt even he’d have the connections to lock in an unsolicited date with 44. So that means Obama probably made the first move, which is as interesting as it is endearing.
Second, what’s the connection between Obama, Slater, and Paak? Well, that one we can answer with the help of Instagram.
Kelly has been a friend/fan of Paak for years, having used his songs for Instagram edits and “liked” many of Paak’s previous posts. Just three weeks ago, Obama put Paak’s song “Cut em in” on his Favorite music of 2020 list. Based on the video that Slater (presumably) sent Paak today, it would appear they’ve bonded over their appreciation for Obama in some prior interaction.
So yeah, not a crazy story by any means, but still pretty freakin’ radical that being a good surfer can get you a golf date with Barack Obama.
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