There will likely be no comedy monologue at this 12 months’s White Home Correspondents’ Dinner after the organizers introduced they’ve cancelled an look by Amber Ruffin, saying they don’t need to deal with “the politics of division.”
The comedic part of the annual occasion usually makes headlines. Michelle Wolf’s jokes about Trump, abortion and gun management went viral in 2018, whereas Stephen Colbert famously skewered George W Bush again in 2006. In 2011, host Seth Meyers and President Barack Obama advised a sequence of jokes mocking Donald Trump – who was sitting expressionless within the viewers – which some have credited with cementing his dedication to run for the presidency.
Ruffin, a 46-year-old stand-up comedian and author for Late Night time with Seth Meyers, had been scheduled to carry out at this 12 months’s occasion.
Nevertheless, on Friday White Home Deputy Chief of Employees Taylor Budowich shared a clip on X of Ruffin being interviewed about her appearance. Budowich criticized the decision to book her, calling her a “2nd rate comedian” who “is previewing the event by calling this administration ‘murderers’ who want to ‘feel like human beings, but they shouldn’t get to feel that way, because you’re not’.”
The following day, Eugene Daniels, the president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, which organizes the dinner, sent out a message to colleagues announcing that Ruffin would no longer be performing.
“The WHCA board has unanimously decided we are no longer featuring a comedic performance this year,” wrote Daniels.
He continued: “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.”
This year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner is set to take place on April 26 at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC.
Even after the announcement that Ruffin will no longer appear at the event, Budowich continued to criticize organizers.
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In a follow-up tweet he wrote: “No accountability at [the White House Correspondents’ Association], only a cop out assertion—pathetic!
“Many WHCA members are privately pointing the finger at Eugene for making the unilateral determination to recruit and signal this rubbish, hate-filled comic.
“But, they’re all turning a blind eye to it publicly. It’s an indictment on how damaged and ineffective this group has turn out to be… so unhappy that such a storied and consequential group has been so rapidly pushed into irrelevancy. Oh nicely. Good riddance!”
The Impartial has approached Ruffin for remark.
