The White House Correspondents’ Dinner, bruised by President Donald Trump’s boycott, will at least have one good after-party this year: from NBC News and MSNBC.
“NBC News and MSNBC will again host our annual after-party following the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner,” the company said in a statement Friday morning.
Lots of other high-profile groups cancelled their parties for the April 29 shindig after Trump said he was not going. White House staffers said this week they were going to stay away in solidarity with their boss. Time and People magazines, The New Yorker and the big after-party thrown by Bloomberg and Vanity Fair have all been scrapped.
In past years, the dinner has turned into a star-studded affair attracting journalists, politicians and celebrities. A guest host would often rib the president, who in turn would toss barbs back at celebrities or members of the press in his own routine.
The last President to skip the function was Ronald Regan in 1981 — but he had a good excuse. He had been shot a month earlier in an assassination attempt.
What’s more, Reagan managed to phone into the dinner that night with a quip for reporters: “If I can give you just one little bit of advice: when somebody tells you to get in a car quick — do it!”
Trump, meanwhile, hasn’t been in a joking mood of late. He says he’s not going because he regards the media as “the enemy” and doesn’t want to pretend to like the media for one night.
Celebrities had already been staying away in droves this year, even before Trump announced via Twitter that he would not make an appearance.
Mike Bloomberg’s company, Bloomberg LP, had scrapped its party after Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, a long time Trump critic, said his magazine would not be participating in the joint party as the two companies had done for most of the past decade.
Bloomberg, however, is still sending people to the actual dinner. Carter had usually stayed at the party site in DC and skipped the dinner. This year, he said he is going to go fishing on a lake in Connecticut.
New Yorker editor David Remnick cancelled the magazine’s Friday night pre-party and Time and People said they will not hold their pre-party either this year. Time magazine is still sending guests to the dinner, which raises money for journalism scholarships.
With the absence of a lot of glitz, organizers said the night will put a lot more emphasis on the importance of a free press in a modern democracy.
Meanwhile, comedian Samantha Bee will be hosting a dinner that night called “Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner” at DAR Constitution Hall. Proceeds will go to the Committee to Protect Journalists.