The chants and shouts of pro-Palestinian demonstrators disrupted the entry to the Washington Hilton for this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, but once inside, attendees were greeted with what has become the usual scene: Celebrities on the red carpet, a crush for the security line and glitterati packed into a cavernous ballroom.
“I want to thank my wife for enduring lots of jokes and for agreeing to individually meet everyone in this room right after the ceremony,” the evening’s featured entertainer, Colin Jost, quipped about Scarlett Johansson, who posed for photos with a non-stop stream of attendees. She continued to do so later in the evening, at the Comcast-NBCU after party at the French ambassador’s residence.
The protests outside — now ubiquitous at any public event, much less one that mixes politics, the media and Hollywood — were barely heard inside the Hilton, where security was tight. In fact, given the tumult going on inside the news business, the footprint of the dinner and the many surrounding parties and fetes reflected a bit of a desire to put on a happy face or just take a breather.
WHCA President Kelly O’Donnell told the crowd, “Here at home there are different challenges: Online threats, hostility vented at reporters on the job, and anxiety is about a paycheck.” That said, her message was still upbeat in that it made the case for journalists, and the White House press corps in particular, in a free society.
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Jon Hamm, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Chris Pine, Lorne Michaels and Lara Trump were among those at the Comcast-NBCU party, where guests could pose for pictures on the Weekend Update set. One of the rooms in the residence was themed to the Olympic Games in Paris this summer, another opportunity for linear TV to get a ratings bump in a year when an election-year viewer spike has been a bit of a disappointment.
Their broadcast rivals also put on fetes before the dinner.
ABC News hosted Molly Ringwald, Da’Vine Joy Rudolph, Rosario Dawson and Andrew McCarthy, while CBS News’ guest list included Jordan Klepper, Desi Lydic, Wilson Cruz and Gayle King.
Networks even stepped with coverage of the event, with CNN featuring several hours of commentary and interviews, including attendee Rachel Brosnahan. They event went back to past hosts
“It’s surreal. There’s no way to describe it,” Darrell Hammond, a previous entertainer, told CNN.
The annual Garden Brunch, at the Beall-Washington House and co-hosted by Tammy Haddad, typically draws the the most eclectic crowd of boldfaced names throughout the weekend, this year including Anthony Fauci, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Kellyanne Conway, Sophia Bush and Oksana Markarova, the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States.
The Deadline-Netflix breakfast earlier in the morning, featuring a Q&A discussion on The Diplomat with Keri Russell, Rufus Sewell, Debora Cahn and Irish Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason, drew guests including Fauci, Samantha Power, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Melissa Fitzgerald, CNN’s Sam Feist and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. The event was held at the Irish ambassador’s residence.
The night before, the MPA honored O’Donnell at its Eye Street headquarters, with a number of her colleagues in attendance including Andrea Mitchell, Peter Alexander, Kristen Welker and Hallie Jackson, as well as Fran Drescher and FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.
CAA toasted Jost and its journalist clients at an event at La Grande Boucherie, with guests including Chris Pine, Johansson, Savannah Guthrie, Steve Ricchetti, Mike Donilon and Dana Walden.
UTA held its annual late-night bash at Fiola Mare, with guests including Ashley Biden and Naomi Biden, José Andrés, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Jen Psaki and Kara Swisher.
Earlier in the day, the focus was on AI as ther Washington AI Network hosted a lunch featuring a conversation with Haddad and Joelle Pineau, vice president of research at Meta. Guests included Lynda Carter, Chris Krebs and Symone Sanders Townsend, and the event included the demonstration of Spotty, a robot dog.
As upbeat as this glimpse into the future was, Jost closed his dinner gig with a quip about what is facing journalists in the brave new world.
“I would like to recognize all the print journalists in this room,” he said. “Your words speak truth to power. Your words bring light to the darkness. And most importantly, your words train the AI programs that will soon replace you.”
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