The White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) has decided to cancel comedian Amber Ruffin‘s planned performance at its annual dinner on April 26, following criticism from President Donald Trump’s administration.
Newsweek has reached out to a press contact for Ruffin via email on Saturday for comment.
Why It Matters
WHCA President Eugene Daniels announced the decision on Saturday after White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich raised concerns about comments Ruffin made on a recent podcast that were critical of the Trump administration.
The dinner will now proceed without any comedic performance, marking a significant shift in the event’s traditional format.
The cancellation reflects the escalating tensions between the press and the second Trump administration.
The WHCA, which is independent from the White House, has seen its traditional roles increasingly eroded, including control over White House press seating arrangements and management of the press pool.
The White House has recently taken over organization of the rotating press pool covering the president—a task historically undertaken by the association—and has barred the Associated Press from events after the news organization refused to follow Trump’s directive to call the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”
What To Know
Ruffin was fired on Saturday after the Trump administration took offense at what she said on The Daily Beast Podcast with hosts comedian Samantha Bee and Daily Beast‘s Chief Creative and Content Officer Joanna Coles.
On Thursday, Ruffin said she wouldn’t try to make sure her jokes targeted both sides of the political spectrum during her set, as she had been instructed to do by the WHCA. “They were like, ‘You need to be equal and make sure that you give it to both sides,’ and I was like, ‘There’s no way I’m going to be freaking doing that,’” she said. “Under no circumstances.”
She later said the Trump administration are “kind of a bunch of murderers,” adding that playing to both sides “makes them feel like human beings, but they shouldn’t get to feel that way, ’cause they’re not.”
On Friday, Budowich lashed out at Ruffin on X, formerly Twitter, over her comments on the podcast, calling her a “2nd rate comedian.” He also asked, “What kind of responsible, sensible journalist would attend something like this? More importantly, what kind of company would sponsor such as hate-filled and violence-inspiring event?”
Ruffin, an Emmy- and Tony-nominated comedian, writer for NBC‘s Late Night with Seth Meyers, and featured player on CNN‘s Have I Got News For You, was announced as the dinner’s entertainer last month.
Daniels had previously expressed strong support for Ruffin when she was announced as the comedic performer, saying she was “immediately at the top of my list” and that her “unique talents are the ideal fit for this current political and cultural climate.”
The WHCA dinner has a history of controversial comedy performances. In 2018, comedian Michelle Wolf drew significant backlash for her remarks about then-press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, saying, “She burns facts and then uses that ash to create a perfect smokey eye. Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s lies.”
Following that controversy, the WHCA broke tradition in 2019 by having historian Ron Chernow speak instead of a comedian—the first time since 2003 that a comedian was not featured.
Trump will not be attending the dinner, continuing his practice from his first term.
What People Are Saying
Amber Ruffin during a CNN interview with Jake Tapper in February on potentially being in the same room as President Donald Trump: “I don’t know that anyone’s looking forward to being in the same room as him.”
WHCA President Eugene Daniels said in a statement: “At this consequential moment for journalism, I want to ensure the focus is not on the politics of division but entirely on awarding our colleagues for their outstanding work and providing scholarship and mentorship to the next generation of journalists.”
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday: No accountability at @WHCA, just a cop out statement—pathetic!”
He added: “Many WHCA members are privately pointing the finger at Eugene for making the unilateral decision to recruit and sign this garbage, hate-filled comedian. Yet, they are all turning a blind eye to it publicly. It’s an indictment on how broken and useless this organization has become…so sad that such a storied and consequential group has been so quickly driven into irrelevancy. Oh well. Good riddance!”
What Happens Next?
Daniels has indicated he is planning a “re-envisioning” of the dinner tradition and will share more details as the date approaches.
The focus will shift to “honoring journalistic excellence and a robust, independent media covering the most powerful office in the world.”
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