President Joe Biden spent much of his speech at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner addressing the plight of imprisoned journalists, vowing, “I promise you.” I am working very hard to bring her home.”
Biden, still serious, said, “I believe in the First Amendment, and not just because my good friend Jimmy Madison wrote it.”
It took many of the roughly 2,600 people seated in the Washington Hilton’s underground ballroom a few seconds before the president moved on to the satirical part of his remarks. When he got to a joke from Don Lemon, he had already started.
Many previous dinners have come amid moments of national and international turmoil, but what was somewhat unusual this year was that the turmoil was so focused on the media itself: high-profile layoffs, layoffs, closings, as WHCA president Tamara Keith pointed out has that journalists around the world are imprisoned for their work. There was no mention of the possible departure of the Writers Guild of America, but many of the entertainment industry executives and creatives in the crowd were considering it.
Roy Wood Jr. was a hit with his joke, in part because it so succinctly portrayed the problem of disinformation: In a paywall landscape, people can’t afford the truth. “You can say what you want about a conspiracy theory, at least it’s affordable.”
The dinner and the many events around it have always been a contrast to the crises, and this year it has also become more and more noticeable due to the post-Covid need to catch up. Crowds were back to pre-2020 levels, masks were scarce and even Dr. Anthony Fauci attended. He canceled last year’s event over concerns about the spread, and he was right. After the event, there was an outbreak.
“If you look at the infection rate, it’s very low,” Fauci said at ABC News’ pre-dinner reception. “It’s not zero, but you have to get to the point where you get on with life.”
The ABC News event, held in one of the hotel’s underground meeting rooms, came to a halt in the crowd of Disney CEO Bob Iger, daytime host Kelly Ripa and Oscar-winning actor Ke Huy Quan Everything, everywhere, all at once.
The rise of celebrity still doesn’t compare to the dinner during the Barack Obama administration, where almost every bold name from outside the Beltway ranked high: Liev Schreiber walked the hotel corridors almost as if it were a continuous photo spread. He admitted the atmosphere was a little hectic and he only briefly stayed at a party the night before because of the crowd, but otherwise he was wild about Saturday’s experience.
Just before the Fox News reception, Mike Pompeo, the former secretary of state and networker, said it was his first time attending. “Good party,” he said, albeit with a slightly wry smile on his face.
In the years when Donald Trump skipped dinner and counter-programmed it with rallies and tweets, Republicans were a rare commodity at the event. This year they were more in the mix. Among those seen were Kellyanne Conway, Hogan Gidley and David Bossie, as well as former Attorney General Bill Barr (a Fox News guest) and Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) (a CBS News guest) and presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson, ex. governor of Arkansas.
Although Fox News was the predictable target of jokes given the Dominion Voting Systems settlement and Tucker Carlson’s departure, it had a big turnout, including Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott and President Jay Wallace, as well as a number of anchors and presenters and correspondent Benjamin Hall, seriously injured in Ukraine.
On stage was Jacqui Heinrich, White House correspondent. In her comments, Keith appeared to refer to the revelations in the Dominion trial as he referred to reporters “who were ridiculed by people within their organization” for reporting the facts. In a November 2020 email, the late Fox host Carlson demanded that Heinrich be fired for checking one of Trump’s tweets.
After Biden and Wood’s outburst, some network personalities weren’t laughing about the posthumous event. on Sunday Fox & Friends weekendHost Pete Hegseth called the dinner “a huge love fest for the Democratic Party, the DC establishment,” according to Mediaite. He noted the cheers that greeted Biden when he addressed the announcement of his 2024 presidential candidacy, although the crowd included not only journalists, but also many guests and government supporters.
However, the hand-wringing over the event — and the signal it sends of reporters messing with their sources — has been a criticism for many, many years, but dinner has lasted. Big media still throw big parties to promote their brands.
The Comcast-NBC Universal News Group after-party at the Organization of American States attracted celebrities such as First Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Rosario Dawson and John Leguizamo, as well as lawmakers such as Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Rep. Ilhan Omar, Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) and Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA), with giant peacocks throughout the room.
CBS branding was also on display at the French ambassador’s residence, where attendees like Brittney and Cherelle Griner mingled with Paramount and CBS personalities like Shari Redstone, George Cheeks, Neeraj Khemlani, Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell. Also seen: Wood, Rosario Dawson, Jerry O’Connell, Justin Theroux and Sophia Bush. From DC were Secretary of State Antony Blinken, White House Communications Director Ben LaBolt, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Ned Price, State Department Senator Chris Coons (D-DE). Other Paramount brands have been pitched as repeat TV focused on Pluto i love lucy
CNN closed out the weekend with its annual Sunday afternoon hangover brunch at the Line Hotel, with camera phones trained on Tiësto, who played a roughly 30-minute set. Among those in attendance: Chris Licht, Jim Acosta, Poppy Harlow, Kaitlan Collins, Jeremy Diamond and Phil Mattingly.
Aside from the dinner itself, one of the oldest traditions of the weekend is the annual pre-dinner garden brunch, which began 30 years ago in the backyard of Tammy Haddad’s home. This year’s event, held at Beall-Washington House, featured the usual mix of journalists, celebrities, business people and politicians. Governor Gavin Newsom was there, although he flew back to California and did not attend Saturday night’s big event himself. Maryland Governor Wes Moore, Dana Bash and Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas were also among the guests and, as with most of the weekend’s events, part of the packed crowd.
Source: Deadline
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
