Former first lady Jill Biden bid $35,000 at a New York City charity auction this week for a cameo on Heated Rivalry, HBO Max’s gay romance hockey drama, and still lost. Two other bidders each paid $125,000 for the same package, which included a walk-on role in the show’s second season and dinner with the cast.
The bidding took place during a live auction at the NYC LGBT Community Center’s annual Center Dinner, where Biden was among the attendees. Breitbart reported that Variety broke the news of Biden’s $35,000 offer and her subsequent loss to higher bidders.
Biden took to X afterward to address the outcome:
“Guess I won’t be heading to the cottage after all, but it was worth a shot! What a wonderful evening supporting @LGBTCenterNYC.”
The package ultimately sold twice, once to each of two bidders, at $125,000 apiece, a combined $250,000 haul for a charity walk-on and a meal. That a former first lady was willing to spend $35,000 of her own money for a bit part on a show built around explicit same-sex romance says something about where the Biden family’s priorities land in the post-White House era.
Heated Rivalry is adapted from Rachel Reid’s LGBTQ-themed hockey book series Game Changers. The show centers on queer characters in professional hockey, and its creators, Jacob Tierney and producing partner Brendan Brady, were honored at the gala with a Cultural Impact Award. Reid herself presented the award to Tierney; Brady was not present.
Dr. Carla Smith, CEO of the NYC LGBT Community Center, praised the show’s creators ahead of the event:
“Tierney and Brady have elevated and centered queer characters as fully realized leads whose desires, conflicts and tenderness are treated with dignity. By championing our voices, they have brought queer joy and storytelling to the mainstream media and have created work that affirms and advances our community.”
That framing, “queer joy,” “mainstream media,” “affirms and advances”, tells you everything about the cultural lane the show occupies and the audience it courts. This is the production Jill Biden wanted to join, even briefly, badly enough to bid five figures.
Nobody begrudges a former first lady attending a charity dinner. Philanthropy is part of the post-presidency playbook. But the specifics matter. Biden did not bid on, say, a veterans’ housing project or a literacy program. She bid for a personal cameo on a sexually charged cable drama, and publicly celebrated the attempt.
Just The News confirmed that the auction took place during a Thursday dinner at the NYC LGBT Community Center and that Biden publicly acknowledged trying for the opportunity. The outlet noted the package included both a role in season two and dinner with the cast.
The Biden family’s post-office conduct continues to draw scrutiny. Hunter Biden is reportedly living in South Africa while owing $17 million in unpaid debts, a story that raises its own questions about family financial priorities.
Meanwhile, the broader Biden political legacy remains a live subject in Washington. The Trump Justice Department recently refused to defend a Biden-era ATF gun rule, dropping an appeal in another sign that the previous administration’s policy choices are being unwound.
The two winning bidders each paid $125,000, more than three times Biden’s offer. That price tag raises its own questions. Who pays a quarter-million dollars, combined, for walk-on roles on a cable series? The auction organizers have not publicly identified the winners. The money goes to the NYC LGBT Community Center, a nonprofit, but the transaction also buys proximity to a cultural product that trades in progressive social messaging.
Charity auctions have always been part vanity purchase, part tax write-off, part social signaling. The difference here is the signal. A former first lady bidding publicly for a spot on a show defined by its explicit queer content is not a neutral act. It is a deliberate alignment, one Biden chose to advertise on social media rather than keep quiet.
The broader pattern of prominent Democrats courting cultural institutions while facing questions about their own conduct is not new. Nancy Pelosi recently scrambled to distance herself from Eric Swalwell as misconduct accusations mounted, a reminder that the party’s public-facing brand and its private record do not always match.
Jill Biden left the White House months ago. She is a private citizen. She can spend her money however she likes. But public figures who choose to make public gestures invite public judgment.
She wanted a cameo on a show whose entire identity is built around sexually explicit same-sex storylines, and she wanted the world to know she tried. The $35,000 bid was not a quiet donation. It was a statement, posted on X for maximum visibility, wrapped in a cheerful “worth a shot” shrug.
The former first lady’s priorities are her own business. But when she broadcasts them from a public stage, the rest of us are allowed to notice what she chose, and what she didn’t.
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