Making waves at Coachella, a headline act who boldly screened an anti-Trump administration video has a surprising connection to the former president from his youth. Hailing from New York City, this artist grew up in affluence and even mingled with Trump in his earlier years.

In a 1991 snapshot, Julian Casablancas, lead singer of The Strokes, can be seen standing behind Trump and his daughter Ivanka, sporting a VIP guest badge. This image, captured by renowned celebrity photographer Ron Galella, was taken at the Maybelline Presents Look of the Year event held at the iconic Plaza Hotel in Manhattan.

During that time, Casablancas enjoyed the perks of an elite lifestyle. His father, John Casablancas, was the mastermind behind Elite Model Management, and his mother, Jeanette Christiansen, once held the title of Miss Denmark.

Trump’s connection with the Casablancas family was notably through Julian’s father, who had significant involvement in Elite’s Look of the Year competition. This relationship placed them in overlapping social circles.

However, John Casablancas’ associations have not been without controversy. In a 2019 lawsuit, he was implicated in allegations concerning ties to billionaire and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, accused of sending an underage model to him.

John was also linked with billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein in a 2019 lawsuit, which alleged he sent a underage model to him.

The younger Casablancas attended elite schools in New York City and Switzerland before forming the band in 1998.

Casablancas life forms a stark contrast with the political message he showed to fans at Coachella over the weekend. As the band played finished its final song, a video montage played.

The montage depicts a school being blown up, captioned “last university standing in Gaza.” Then the members got up and left the stage while the clip continued playing.

It accuses the CIA of enacting regime change in foreign countries and implicitly criticized Israel’s bombing of Gaza and the United States’ bombing of Iran.

The song the band was playing alongside the footage, “Oblivius,” features the lyrics: “What side you standing on?” Casablancas signaled before the performance that the band would get political.

Casablancas, during the band’s April 11 show, addressed the upcoming automatic registration for the military draft.

“You guys excited about the draft? Oh wait — not the NFL draft,” he told the audience. “In six months, I think everyone who’s eligible is gonna have to register for the military. I hope to lead one of the Coachella units. The sexiest unit in our proud military, I’m sure.”

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