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Paramount Global’s Starry White House Correspondents Dinner After Party

May 1, 2022 By WHC Insider

CBS, MTV Entertainment, Comedy Central, Paramount+, and Showtime, otherwise known as Paramount Global, came together to host the #ParamountAfterParty at the Residence of France with Ambassador Philippe Etienne following the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, April 30th. The star-studded affair was one of the most sought-after tickets of the weekend.

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The top brass from Paramount Global strutted their stuff as the new hosts. Bloomberg and VANITY FAIR were the longtime hosts of the After party, but this year in Paramount Global garnered an equally epic gathering of Washington’s top players and Hollywood’s beautiful people. The guest list included Diane Lane, Sophia Bush, Gayle King, Roy Wood, Jr., Billy Eichner, as well as Biden administration officials Secretary of State Tony Blinken, White House Cabinet Secretary Evan Ryan, Counselor to the President Steve Ricchetti, Press Secretary Jen Psaki, Biden Senior Advisor Mike Donilon and Senators Chris Coons (Del.) and Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) and former Congressman Will Hurd (Texas) from Capitol Hill.

Paramount Global leadership was well represented by CBS president and CEO George Cheeks, SHOWTIME CEO David Nevins, Washington favorite DeDe Lea, EVP of Global Public Policy and Government Relations, co-presidents of CBS News Wendy McMahon and Neeraj Khemlani and Tom Ryan, President & CEO Paramount Streaming / Co-Founder & CEO Pluto TV.

The company owned the weekend with Comedy Central’s Trevor Noah appearing as the comedian at the dinner, CBS radio’s Steve Portnoy, this year’s President of the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell, who signed a new contract and hosts the only evening new show that originates from Washington, and Showtime Stars Corey Stoll and Desus were among the guests.

The Biden White House staff was well represented beginning with Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Evan Ryan, Steve and Amy Ricchetti, Mike and Trish Donilon, Jen Psaki, Ned Price, Anthony Bernal, Naomi Biden, Ashley Biden, Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas, Amb. Philippe Etienne, Amb. Karen Pierce, Charles Roxburgh, Karine Jean-Pierre, John McCarthy, Lina Khan, Rohit Chopra, Jessica Rosenworcel, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Sen. Chris Coons, DeDe Lea, David Nevins, George Cheeks, Neeraj Khemlani, Gayle King, Norah O’Donnell and Geoff Tracy, Diane Lane, Brooke Shields and daughter Rowan, Harry Hamlin, Roy Wood, Christa Robinson, Roy Wood, Jr., Tony Dokoupil and Katy Tur, Chris and Jenny Licht, David and Katie Leavy, Don Lemon and Tim Malone, Nathaniel Brown, Pamela Brown, Kate Bouldan, Fred and Genny Ryan, Kara Swisher, Nayeema Raza, Carol Melton, Robert Costa, Jason Isaacs, Symone Sanders, Jonathan Swan, Mike Allen, Jay Carney, John Harris, Matt Kaminsky, Matt Dornic, Jim VandeHei, Steve and Jean Case, Marne Levine and Phil Deutch, Will Hurd, Chris Krebs, Shelley Zalis, Yebbie Watkins, Liz Johnson, Daniel Koh and Amy Sennett, Senay Bulbul, Jonathan and Betsy Fisher Martin, Luke Russert, Kasie Hunt, Craig Gordon, Olivia Nuzziand Ryan Lizza, Brian Stelter, Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews, Ryan Williams, Anthony Verdugo, Nancy Cordes, Marc Adelman.

Filed Under: Uncategorized, WHCA, WHCA Dinner, White House Correspondents Association Tagged With: White House Correspondents Dinner

Top Biden-Harris Strategist Symone Sanders To Join MSNBC 

January 10, 2022 By margaretmturner

Symone D. Sanders, the former Senior Advisor and Chief Spokesperson to Vice President Kamala Harris, joins MSNBC as an anchor, hosting a new weekend program on the cable channel. The hire marks the first big programming move for new MSNBC President Rashida Jones, who took charge of the channel in February 2021 after its longtime head Phil Griffin departed.

Tammy Haddad, Symone Sanders, former FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, and Rachel Greenberg at the 2016 WHC Garden Brunch

Sanders’s new MSNBC program will air on Saturdays and Sundays starting in the spring, although the title, format, and time slot are all to be determined, according to NBC. She will also serve as a fill-in anchor on the network and host a show on “The Choice,” the streaming arm of MSNBC on NBCUniversal’s digital service, Peacock.

The release states that “Sanders will bring her expertise, spirited rhetoric and sharp political insight to MSNBC’s multi-platform channels. Her program will explore issues at the intersection of politics, culture and race and break down how decisions made in Washington impact electorates, industries, and communities across the country. She will also interview law and policy makers, top government officials, scholars, and thought leaders.” 

Highly accomplished, Sanders was one of the highest-ranking Black women in the Biden White House. In her mid-20s, she became national press secretary for Senator Bernie Sanders’s 2016 presidential campaign, then joined CNN as a quick-witted and creative commentator. When a Republican official told her to “shut up” during a live interview, her viral response later became the title of her memoir, “No, You Shut Up: Speaking Truth to Power and Reclaiming America.”

Sanders joined the Biden campaign in 2019 as a senior adviser, with particular passions for issues of women and Black voters. She strongly advocated for her candidate, so much so that in March 2020 she tackled a protester who rushed the stage during President Biden’s speech on Super Tuesday. In the transition to the White House, she played an integral part of Vice President Kamala Harris’s team. 

In an interview with The New York Times, Sanders expressed her interest in moving beyond politics and transitioning into media. “I’m a young woman, a young Black woman from the Midwest,” said Ms. Sanders, who grew up in Omaha. “Yes, I do politics, but I’m also a consumer of pop culture. I watch the news, I check Twitter, but I’m also into ‘Real Housewives.’ I’m interested in reaching what I call the nonpolitical group chats, the discussions that are penetrating outside of Washington.”

Sanders isn’t the first White House alum to transition into television news. “I’m going to tell the truth, and sometimes the truth is critical,” she told the New York Times of her new role at MSNBC. “This administration has its critics, just like everyone does — I have my critics — and we’re going to have those conversations.”

As a political spokesperson, Sanders understands the full perspective of the intersection between politics and media. “Oftentimes, when it came to the vice president over the last year, people were not reporting on the truth, they were reporting on the gossip.” 

Speaking last month to The Omaha World-Herald about her decision to leave the Biden Administration, Sanders said that she planned “to continue to be a reliable voice for this White House on the outside, regardless of whatever I do next.” Sanders will remain based in Washington, D.C., as she begins her new role, and she plans to marry her fiance, Shawn Townsend, in August 2022.

Filed Under: DC, Washington, Washington Insider, WHCA Tagged With: Garden Brunch, Media, MSNBC, Symone Sanders, White House, White House Correpondents Dinner

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About White House Correspondents Insider

Exploring “behind the scenes” of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

We track the White House Correspondents’ weekend and all the activities around it, from journalists and media companies to the White House and politicos.

Tammy Haddad is Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief of WHC Insider and CEO of Haddad Media.

White House Correspondents Insider is not affiliated with or approved by the White House Correspondents’ Association, which is a registered trademark of the WHCA.

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