Behind the scenes at the White House mannequin challenge!

A host of celebrities including Ellen DeGeneres, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tom Hanks, Robert Redford, Robert De Niro, Diana Ross, Bruce Springsteen, Cicely Tyson, Vin Scully and Lorne Michaels recently received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Ellen shared some recollections during her talk show this week. For starters she forgot her ID at first and had to wait for clearance (oops!) Once inside she and her fellow recipients decided to make the most of their free time by staging a mannequin challenge. The toughest part: explaining to everyone what that was.

MORE: Dwight Howard celebrated Thanksgiving with a special mannequin challenge