White House Correspondents Insider

Behind the scenes of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

Hollywood Reporter: Inside the WHC Garden Brunch: Lindsay Lohan, Greta Van Susteren and John Coale

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Garden Brunch Guests: Shawn Chapman, John Coale, Greta Van Susteren, Kris Jenner and Lindsay Lohan

“While their evenings consisted of boozy, black tie affairs, the celebrity circuit that invaded Washington DC this past weekend was far from nocturnal. In between two nights of clanking glasses at done-up hotels and restaurants (including THR and Google’s Friday night party), the big players took advantage of the warm weather to celebrate each other in the garden, too.

The 19th annual White House Correspondents’ Association Garden Brunch was held on Saturday and held plenty of star-studded highlights. The party’s organizer, Tammy Haddad, reflected on the afternoon in an email discussion with The Hollywood Reporter.

As was the case for most of the weekend, Lindsay Lohan, a guest of Fox News, drew major attention. But it was all tranquility for Lilo this time. The star met with top level officials in the Obama campaign, such as David Axelrod and former Obama “body man” Reggie Love. Lohan reminsced with Fox News’ Ed Henry about growing up in Long Island, New York, and told the son of Tammy Haddad, one of the event’s organizers, that she still had the car from Herbie Fully Loaded in her garage (the young man was excited to meet her because he had seen the movie about 100 times).

Woody Harrelson appeared with Steve Schmidt, the GOP adviser that he played in HBO’s Game Change (the pair appeared together at THR and Google’s party the night before); Harrelson wowed onlookers with card tricks, having casually produced an entire deck from his pocket. Kerry Washington, who plays a DC spinmeister in ABC’s Scandal, also got kudos for her beltway portrayal.

California’s top two leaders, Gov. Jerry Brown and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, couldn’t have been more different; Brown declined to speak to the press, while Newsom, who now has his own show on Current TV, took any and all questions.

Meanwhile, Elle Macpherson showed MSNBC host Willie Geist that all the talk television experience in the world couldn’t give him the type of attention-grabbing abilities that she has; while he couldn’t quiet the crowd, they almost immediately fell silent when the supermodel called for them to pipe down.”

Magic in the Air at WH Correspondents’ Garden Brunch

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Woody Harrelson is a man of many talents, and at Saturday’s WH Correspondents’ Garden Brunch, he wowed the crowd with some magic tricks.

The mega-movie star pulled out a deck of cards on the back lawn and delighted kids and adults with his magic cards. Here is Woody Harrelson with Steve Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson and David Axelrod.

Bloomberg & Vanity Fair Do It Again!

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The most exclusive party of the White House Correspondents’ Weekend is the Bloomberg/Vanity Fair After Party.  Back at the French Ambassador’s residence again this year, guests walked by the front lawn covered in tiny multi-colored lights.  New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was seen talking with Hollywood A-listers including George Clooney, Reese Witherspoon, Charlize Theron, Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHaan, Kyle MacLachlan and his wife producer Desiree Gruber, Goldie Hawn, and Kate Hudson.

French Ambassador Francois Delattre and his beautiful wife Sophie welcomed partygoers and bold faced names dominated the rooms. Media toppers included Barbara Walters and David Gregory, Obama notables were David and Susan Axelrod (talking to Ivanka Trump), White House staffers Jay Carney and Alyssa Mastromonaco and Obama Campaign Communications Director Stephanie Cutter. The republican were represented by Ben Ginsberg and Meghan McCain to name a few. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel seemed happy to be back in DC for an evening.

Judd Apatow and his wife actress Leslie Mann, looked shocked to meet Eric Schmidt, the Executive Chairman of Google.

It was another big night for Uggie the dog from “The Artist” who missed the actual WH Correspondents’ Dinner, but was getting lots of love at the Bloomberg/Vanity Fair gala. Goldie Hawn snuggled up with the pup in one of the best moments of the late night gathering.

Guests relaxed, some even kicking off their shoes after a long night of formal speeches and dinner, as the party went on until the early hours of Sunday.  A crowd formed around Ronan Farrow, the son of Woody Allen and Mia Farrow and his friend Obama joke writer, now Hollywood writer, Jon Lovett.

Daniel Radcliffe and Dane DeHaan were chatting with Graydon Carter, Chris Matthews, Salman Rushdie, Kate Upton and Reggie Love.

In the wee hours of the morning Clooney was still talking to friends Kate Hudson, Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann while some politicos just looked on. One media executive was overheard saying at 3am, “I have a rule, I don’t leave if George Clooney is still there.”  That executive left at 3:45am and George Clooney was still there.

VIDEO: 19th Annual WHC Garden Brunch

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The WHC Garden Brunch celebrates it’s 19th year and honored Susan Axelrod and Steve & Jean Case.  Watch Elle Macpherson, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Governor Haley Barbour, Kerry Washington, Danny Strong, Rosario Dawson, Hilary Rosen, Willie Geist, Alex Castellanos, Brad Keywell, Meghan McCain, Ed Henry, Danielle Panabaker, and David Axelrod talk about CURE Epilepsy and The White Ribbon Alliance.

Tech Leaders + White House Correspondents’ Weekend

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The New York Times’ media mogul and columnist, David Carr, chronicled the arrival of tech leaders at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, quoting one of today’s greatest film producer/directors, Judd Apatow, who likened meeting Google’s Eric was like meeting the man who invented fire.

Garden Brunch guests were gawking at the All-Star Tech lineup including Hosain Rahman, CEO of Jawbone (and a CURE Epilepsy supporter who donated Jamboxes that were given away to top donors), Dick Costolo, Twitter CEO, Brad Keywell, co-founder of Groupon, Chamath Palihapitiya and Brigette Lau, of Social+Capital Partnership, Mark Pincus, CEO of Zynga and his wife Ali, co-founder of One Kings Lane, Dennis Crowley, co-founder of Foursquare and Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post.

Brunch co-host Hilary Rosen said it best before an award was presented to Steve and Jean Case of the Case Foundation, which is a partner in Startup America, that “this audience is filled with people who are on the cutting edge of innovation, policy, philanthropy and charity.”

Read the rest of David Carr’s take on the Brunch, the dinner, and the Bloomberg Vanity Fair After Party here.

HUFF POST Likes White House Correspondents' Brunch Servings

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Our friends at the Huffington Post made their own news at the Garden Brunch supporting CURE Epilepsy and The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood. Enjoy these interviews of two longtime WRA supporters Arianna Huffington, Matthew Morrison and “Scandal” star Kerry Washington. Read full story HERE.

White House Correspondents’ Dinner Surprise: Daniel Radcliffe

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Daniel Radcliffe and Bloomberg's Peter Cook

Mega star Daniel Radcliffe was Bloomberg’s guest at the correspondents’ dinner.  He talked with Obama’s former top aide Reggie Love, Steve Ricchetti and Evan Ryan, from the Vice President’s office and Bloomberg LP CEO Dan Doctoroff at their pre-reception.  Radcliffe fans screamed with joy as he arrived with his co-star Dane DeHaan from the production, “Kill Your Darlings.”

Other Bloomberg guests were Kevin Spacey, Alicia Keys, Elle Macpherson, Kerry Washington, Sports Illustrated cover girl Kate Upton, actress/singer Malin Ackerman, plus Kyle McLachlan and Desiree Gruber.

Tech CEOS were well represented at Bloomberg tables, including Hosain Rahman from Jawbone, Chamath Palihapitiya, formerly of Facebook, and Brad Keywell, co-founder of Groupon.

Celebrities Heat Up the Red Carpet at the WHCD Garden Brunch

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The Red Carpet was red-hot at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Garden Party.  Wowing the crowd was supermodel Elle Macpherson, the beautiful actress Kate Hudson, fan favorite Kyle MacLachlan and his fabulous wife producer Desiree Gruber and “The Big Bang Theory” star Johnny Galecki.

Former Obama aide Reggie Love was seen chatting with Lindsay Lohan, while ExperiMentalist Gerard Senehi amazed guests with his jaw-dropping feats including bending quarters and levitating objects.

And guests from both coasts were loving the famous Georgetown Cupcakes, generously donated by sisters Katherine Kallinis and Sophie LaMontagne,  in support of The White Ribbon Alliance and CURE Epilepsy.

The Huffington Post captured the action here

The Starts Align at WH Correspondents' Dinner Garden Brunch

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Georgetown was the center of the action today as Hollywood stars Lindsay Lohan, Matthew Morrison, and Chase Crawford joined political stars Valerie Jarrett, Gov. Jerry Brown and Haley Barbour and media hot shots Willie Geist, Greta van Susteren, and Arianna Huffington to support the White Ribbon Alliance and CURE Epilepsy at the 19th annual White House Correspondents’ Garden Brunch.

Lindsay Lohan arrived with Greta van Susteren & John Coale, Kris Jenner and lawyer Shawn Chapman Holley and guests lined up to meet her and shake hands.  After listening to the speeches, Lohan wowed the young volunteers who lined up for photos.

Hosted by Tammy Haddad, Kevin Sheekey, Hilary Rosen, Clarke Camper, Mark Ein, Alex Castellanos, Anita Dunn, Bill Knapp, David Adler, Steve McMahon and Franco Nuschese, guests strolled through Ein’s home and marveled at all the star power.

Spotted in the crowd were Bob Barnett and Elle Macpherson, Kris Jenner, Kate Hudson, Kerry Washington, Tim Daly and Woody Harrelson.

Hosain Rahman from Jawbone donated super-hot Jamboxes to anyone who made a significant donation to White Ribbon Alliance or CURE.  Elle Macpherson used her supermodel moxy to quiet the crowd as she, Rosario Dawson and Willie Geist presented the Jamboxes to the lucky donors including Bret Baier, Steve Schmidt and Steve Clemons.

Also honored at the event were Steve and Jean Case for their innovation and philanthropy and Susan Axelrod for her tireless work to find a cure for epilepsy.  GOP power house Alex Castellanos moved the crowd with his speech about Lauren Axelrod’s struggle with relentless seizures.  Both Susan and David Axelrod had tears in their eyes as Alex recounted the family’s battle with their daughter’s illness.

Steve and Jean Case accepted their award from NYSE Euronext’s Clarke Camper with a beautiful reminder that everyone has the power to help people in need.

You can watch the program from the Garden Brunch tonight on C-SPAN prior to the live broadcast of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.