Nearly every publication in town — and many even outside of Washington — had their two cents to share about the glitz and glamor of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner weekend. One of the highlights of the weekend was the annual Garden Brunch on Saturday afternoon.
Variety kicked off coverage of the Garden Brunch by mentioning it as one of the premier events of the weekend. The brunch was held at the Beall-Washington House which is owned by businessman Mark Ein, one of the event hosts alongside Tammy Haddad, Hilary Rosen, Kevin Sheekey and David Adler.
POLITICO’s Playbook reported that CNN would be using Facebook Live to cover the brunch in real time. This ended up being quite the success with almost 30,000 people watching footage of the brunch.
People reported that, while at the brunch, Scandal star Katie Lowes was gushing about a jazz concert the cast of Scandal got to attend on Friday night at the White House.
Adweek spotted and mentioned a number of stars who attended the brunch from Uber CEO Travis Kalanick to actor Jeff Goldblum to Valerie Jarrett, advisor to the President. They also mentioned that this year “the party has gotten bigger (more crowded), and the food has gotten better (more desserts).”
USA Today reported that actress Jaimie Alexander debuted her short new haircut, a sleek bob cut, at the Garden Brunch on Saturday morning.
The Washington Post reported that the brunch was the top destination for those visiting town to pre-game for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, but that trying to converse and interact with all the Washington power players felt a little like a ‘workout’. It went on to name almost two dozen of the famous faces who attended and hosted the event.
Last, but not least, Page Six reported that revered English actress Helen Mirren, who has played Queen Elizabeth II on screen, and Tony Goldwyn, who plays the commander-in-chief on Scandal, were both given especially warm welcomes to the brunch by co-host Tammy Haddad.