Early-2000s music sensation Akon has joined the Brock Pierce presidential campaign, J.D. Durkin reports for Cheddar:
Akon, like Pierce, is a cryptocurrency enthusiast: He’s established a currency called Akoin and plans a cryptocurrency-themed city in Senegal. Pierce, who recently purchased a $2 million penthouse in DC, is a former child actor who appeared in The Mighty Ducks and First Kid, in which he worked alongside Sinbad and played the son of the US President.
Pierce’s real estate portfolio and IMDB credits don’t represent his only touchpoints with Washington: According to a wild 2018 Rolling Stone profile, Pierce hired Steve Bannon in 2005 to help him run a video game company that reportedly opened Bannon’s eyes to the “monster power” of rootless gamers online, a dynamic he’d later harness as chief executive of the Trump campaign and, briefly, as President Trump’s chief strategist.
Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.
