Hugh Jackman performed for media tycoon Rupert Murdoch at the billionaire’s 95th birthday party in New York on Saturday.
The black-tie celebration took place at The Grill, a restaurant in the Seagram Building in Midtown Manhattan, according to People. Jackman sang several numbers during the evening, including songs from the 2017 film The Greatest Showman, as well as renditions of “Fly Me to the Moon” and “New York, New York”, a source at the event told the outlet.
He ended his performance with Peter Allen’s “I Still Call Australia Home,” and reportedly thanked Murdoch for supporting his career.
Murdoch, the Australia-born founder of the global media empire behind Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post, turns 95 on 11 March. He arrived at the party with his wife Elena Zhukova, whom he married in 2024, and his son Lachlan Murdoch, chief executive of Fox Corporation.
Among those attending were Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, former UK prime minister Tony Blair, former US House speaker Paul Ryan, former Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin, US interior secretary Doug Burgum, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, according to the New York Post.
Ivanka Trump was seen encouraging Jackman during the performance, with a source telling People she was “cheering him on”.
Jackman has been friends with Trump and Kushner for years. Speaking to Variety in 2018, he said: “I’ve known those guys for 15 years, and we don’t talk politics at birthday parties.”
The Independent has approached Jackman’s representatives for comment.
US president Donald Trump did not attend the event in person but sent a video message, where he described Murdoch as “legendary” and “one of a kind”.
The message comes just months after Trump filed a defamation lawsuit seeking at least $10bn against The Wall Street Journal, its parent company Dow Jones, News Corp, Murdoch and two reporters over a July 2025 article about a 2003 birthday greeting allegedly sent by Trump to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which Trump denies writing.
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Murdoch also addressed his guests, saying: “I won’t bore you with memories of what you know – this is the time to look to the future. America has become the unmatched engine of invention.”
Murdoch’s children James, Elisabeth, and Prudence MacLeod were not at the party, according to The Wrap. Their absence comes after a dispute over the family trust, which controls News Corp and Fox, after Rupert Murdoch attempted to restructure it to ensure Lachlan retained control of the companies after his death.
The dispute ended with a settlement in September 2025, under which James, Elisabeth, and Prudence agreed to relinquish their stakes in the trust in return for about $1.1bn each.
