The comedian who was set to perform at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was fired from the gig Saturday—after the Trump administration took offense at what she said on The Daily Beast Podcast.
On Thursday, Amber Ruffin had sparked MAGA rage when she said that she wouldn’t try to make sure that her jokes targeted both sides of the political spectrum during her set, as she had been instructed to do by the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA).
She told hosts comedian Samantha Bee and Beast Chief Content Officer Joanna Coles that 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.”
A Saturday letter from Eugene Daniels, the president of the WHCA, to its members announced that he had been “re-envisioning” the April 26 dinner “for the past couple of weeks.” The WHCA is independent from the White House.
“As a first step, I wanted to share that the WHCA board has unanimously decided we are no longer featuring a comedic performance this year,” wrote Daniels, who is also a political correspondent for MSNBC. “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.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the WHCA and Ruffin for comment.
Ruffin previously hosted a late-night talk show on Peacock and has since written for comedian Seth Meyers’s show. She was announced as the dinner’s headliner in February. At the time, Daniels lavished praise on Ruffin.
“When I began to think about what entertainer would be a perfect fit for the dinner this year, Amber was immediately at the top of my list,” he wrote in a statement announcing her appearance. “She has the ability to walk the line between blistering commentary and humor all while provoking her audience to think about the important issues of the day. I’m thrilled and honored she said yes.”
The two even appeared alongside each other on MSNBC to publicize Ruffin’s appearance, with Daniels calling her “fabulous.”
Was so excited to announce that @ambermruffin is going to be the featured enterainer for the WHCD this year!
The countdown has begun!
— Eugene Daniels (@EugeneDaniels2) February 4, 2025
On Friday, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich lashed out at Ruffin over her comments on the Beast’s podcast, calling her a “2nd rate comedian.”
“What kind of responsible, sensible journalist would attend something like this?” he wrote. “More importantly, what kind of company would sponsor such as hate-filled and violence-inspiring event?”
This year’s @whca dinner will be hosted by 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”
What kind of responsible, sensible journalist… pic.twitter.com/tZCJS9fNOT
— Taylor Budowich (@Taylor47) March 29, 2025
On Saturday, Budowich called the WHCA statement removing Ruffin a “cop out.”
“Many WHCA members are privately pointing the finger at Eugene for making the unilateral decision to recruit and sign this garbage, hate-filled comedian,” he claimed. “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.”
First held in 1921, the White House Correspondents’ Dinner had traditionally brought together the press and members of the presidential administration, including the president and vice president. Since 1983, it has typically featured a comedian who cracks jokes at the president’s expense. Recent featured entertainers have included Colin Jost, Trevor Noah, and Hasan Minhaj.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
During his first term, Donald Trump became the first U.S. president not to attend a single one of the annual dinners. In 2019, he disparaged it as “so boring and so negative.”
Since Trump entered office in January, tensions have run high between the correspondents association and the administration.
In February, the White House announced that the WHCA would no longer be allowed to decide which journalists were assigned to cover the president on a given day. The White House itself now assigns reporters to the pool, which has raised concerns about the opportunity for the press to cover the administration without fear of retribution.
Daniels said at the time that the decision “tears at the independence of a free press in the United States.”
The same month, Trump moved to exclude the Associated Press from press events after outlet decided to stick with the name the “Gulf of Mexico” rather than, as Trump has tried to name it, the “Gulf of America.”
Daniels, speaking for the WHCA, said in February that body “stands with” the AP.
“The White House cannot dictate how news organizations report the news, nor should it penalize working journalists because it is unhappy with their editors’ decisions,” he wrote in a statement.
The crisis has led to internal turmoil at the WHCA and questions about Daniels’s leadership. A closed-door virtual meeting of the association this month became contentious even as he insisted that its board was doing everything it could, according to Status, a media newsletter.
“There were a lot of pointed questions,” a person familiar with the meeting told the newsletter. “You could tell there was a lot of frustration with Eugene and the board.”
Many of the journalists in attendance were pushing for a more aggressive response from the WHCA beyond just issuing statements.
Source : https://www.thedailybeast.com/wh-correspondents-fire-comedian-after-insult-on-beast-podcast/
