Obama Awards Medal of Freedom to Diana Ross, Springsteen, Ellen DeGeneres, and more

Yesterday, Barack Obama acknowledged influential figures in the film, music and sports industries by awarding them with the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour in America. The list of recipients included actors Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, Ellen DeGeneres, Robert Redford and Cicely Tyson, along with musicians Diana Ross and Bruce Springsteen, and Lorne Michaels, the producer of Saturday Night Live. Athletes Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were also given the award.
As if the honour of receiving the medal itself wasn't enough, Obama also spoke about each of the winners with admiration and a bit of that Obama humour. Of Michael Jordan, he said, "There is a reason you call somebody 'the Michael Jordan of.' The Michael Jordan of neurosurgery, or the Michael Jordan of rabbis, or the Michael Jordan of outrigger canoeing. Everyone knows what you're talking about."
He thanked Springsteen for his work on crafting the "anthems of our America, the reality of who we are and the reverie of who we want to be." He spoke of Ellen DeGeneres and the risk she took by coming out publicly on her own television show almost 20 years ago. "What an incredible burden that was to bear, to risk her career like that. People don't do that very often, and then to have the hopes of millions on your shoulders," he said.
Others honoured with the award included Richard Garwin, an inventor and polymath physicist, Frank Gehry, a talented architect, Margaret H. Hamilton, a mathematician and computer scientist who developed on-board flight software for NASA's Apollo Moon missions, and Maya Lin, the designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Obama thanked all of them not just for the contributions they made to America, but for the impact they had made on his life personally. "Everybody on this stage has touched me in a very powerful, personal way, in ways that they probably couldn't imagine," he said, promoting an emotional response from the crowd. The recipients also took some time to goof off, as they took a try at the mannequin challenge. Check out videos from the event below.

Obama gives speech at Medal of Freedom ceremony, honours Ellen DeGeneres, Robert DeNiro, Tom Hanks, Michael Jordan, Diana Ross, and Bruce Springsteen:

The Medal of Freedom recipients do the mannequin challenge:

Look what we got everyone to do! I'm in the pink dress laughing with Rita! It’s the #MannequinChallenge, Presidential Medal of Freedom Edition at the @WhiteHouse!! Starring #RobertDeNiro, @RitaWilson, @TheEllenShow, @KareemAbdulJabbar_33, @TomHanks, #BillGates, #MichaelJordan, @FrankGehry, my mama #DianaRoss, and more!

A video posted by Tracee Ellis Ross (@traceeellisross) on Nov 22, 2016 at 11:44am PST