White House Correspondents Insider

Behind the scenes of one of the most powerful clubs in America.

WHCD Guest Update: Will Smith and Jada Pinkett + Priyanka Chopra To Join The Party

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Priyanka Chopra

Priyanka Chopra

Men In Black super star and leading Hollywood hunk Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith are among the guests of ABC for this weekend’s White House Correspondents Dinner. Also invited to the dinner by ABC is the cast of Scandal including leading stars Kerry Washington, Tony Goldwyn, Scott Foley and creator Shonda Rhimes.

Bollywood bombshell Priyanka Chopra, who is a star of ABC’s new television thriller series Quantico, will also be in attendance at the event, which she recently confirmed via her Twitter account. Chopra has gotten global attention for her portrayal of FBI agent ‘Alex Parrish’ in the American television series that debuted in the fall of 2015.

Chopra has been invited by USA Today and will be seated with model Kendall Jenner and fellow actors Rosario                                                                          Dawson, Neve Campbell and Gabrielle Union.

 

 

 

ABC Stars Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn lead this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association parade

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Kerry Washington and Willie Geist at the 2012 Garden Brunch.

It’s that time of the year again, when politics and paparazzi come together to celebrate the 96th White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner on April 30th, and the names of the A-list celebrity guests are filtering in.

The annual correspondent’s dinner at the Washington Hilton is a black-tie affair for 2600 of the most well known celebrities, politicos and journalists in America. Past guests have ranged from movie dogs (Uggie the Dog from Oscar-winning film The Artist) all the way to current Republican frontrunner Donald Trump in 2011.

This year the comedian for the evening is Larry Wilmore, host of Comedy Central’s “Nightly Show.” Every year, the news organizations compete to bring the biggest and brightest stars to join their journalists for the evening’s festivities. ABC network looks like they’ve won the prize with the cast of Scandal and Black-ish.

Tony Goldwyn supporting Dog Tag Bakery at the Garden Brunch 2014.

ABC Guests

Shonda Rhimes, TV mogul, Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy, How to Get Away With Murder

Kerry Washington, Scott Foley and Tony Goldwyn — Cast of Scandal

Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross,  Black-ish

Kenya Barris, Creator of Black-ish

This Week Welcomes Jeremy Bash To The Talking Heads

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A new Obama pundit joined the Sunday show ranks yesterday. Jeremy Bash, former chief of staff to former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and his top deptuy at the CIA, appeared on This Week’s panel explaining the President’s new position on Syria. Joining him were George Will, Jeffrey Goldberg and Martha Raddatz.

While Will went with the Napolean quote to lead of the Sunday conversation, Bash used his own experience at the CIA to go over the issues.

The Week – Roundtable I: U.S. Role in Syria

Barbara Walters Announces Her Retirement…

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…next summer? Ok!

The mainstay anchor and reporter of ABC has announced her plans to retire in 2014.

“I am very happy with my decision and look forward to a wonderful and special year ahead both on ‘The View’ and with ABC News,” she said. “I created ‘The View’ and am delighted it will last beyond my leaving it.”

“There’s only one Barbara Walters,” says ABC News President Ben Sherwood. “And we look forward to making her final year on television as remarkable, path-breaking and news-making as Barbara herself. Barbara will always have a home at ABC News and we look forward to a year befitting her brilliant career, filled with exclusive interviews, great adventures and indelible memories.”

As for the rest of the release–ok? Back in March Walters suffered from a fainting spell, which turned out to be the Chicken Pox. But now we’ve got a year to honor and praise “The View” co-founder including her last series of specials to air later this year.

DEADLINE.com LEADS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS DINNER STAR LIST

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The competition for stars at the White House Correspondents Dinner is only comparable to the competition to report which stars are attending with what news organization. Here is how the Hollywood site Deadline.com led the pack today. Take Notes….

PREVIOUSLY, TUESDAY PM: Hollywood is again the guest everyone seems to want at their table for this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Returning headliner Conan O’Brien is set to take up the court-jester role that Jimmy Kimmel played last year and news organizations have began to reveal guest lists for the April 27 event. There’s a lot of Tinseltown glitter already set alongside generals and top-tier cabinet secretaries — as well as power players like Harvey Weinstein. We know President Obama and the First Lady will be there, and big Obama donor Jeffrey Katzenberg has been invited by the Wall Street Journal, but no word yet whether he will attend. Here’s who else we know is going from Hollywood so far:

Thomson Reuters: The current head of the Canada’s Central Bank and the next Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney will be sitting at Thomson Reuters table as will new SEC chief Mary Jo White, Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat, Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird and Newtown Conn. First Selectwoman Pat Llodra among others. They will be joined by The Bourne Legacy’s Jeremy Renner, Revenge’s Madeline Stowe, Kathleen Turner, SNL’s Fred Armisen, Steve Zahn of HBO’s Treme and the almost next Lord of Downton Abbey. That’s right, the now departed Matthew Crawley himself Dan Stevens will be there.

USA Today: Courtney Cox, Kate Walsh, Kristin Chenoweth and 1600 Penn’s Josh Gad are at the paper’s table. Although she decided not to run for the U.S. Senate seat from Kentucky, Olympus Has Fallen’s First Lady Ashley Judd will also attend.

ABC/ABC News: Modern Family’s Sofia Vergara, Eric Stonestreet and other cast members will be back this year. Nashville’s Hayden Panettiere and Connie Britton will also be in attendance. And the President of the United States will be at the table — the fictional POTUS Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III, that is, from the DC-based political drama Scandal. Tony Goldwyn will be there with Scandal star Kerry Washington, executive producer Betsy Beers and show creator Shonda Rhimes.

Huffington Post: Jon Bon Jovi will be sitting at this table, joining fellow Jerseyite Gov. Chris Christie, who many think may take a run at the White House in 2016. Scarlett Johansson, who gave a speech with Kerry Washington during last year’s Democratic National Convention, also has a spot.

Newsweek/Daily Beast: He may have missed the inauguration because he was at Sundance, but Weinstein will be here. IAC boss and Newsweek/Daily Beast owner Barry Diller is sitting at his table, as is editor Tina Brown. The Newsroom’s Olivia Munn will be there too. Nicole Kidman is coming, but no word yet if hubby and American Idol judge Keith Urban is attending.

CNN: Elizabeth Banks will be sitting at the cable news network’s table. She’s the only Hollywood type so far, but don’t be surprised if new boss Jeff Zucker tries to stack the seating arrangement with more as well as the likes of Anthony Bourdain from his own network — remember, the man used to run Today.

NBC/NBC News: Matthew Perry plans to break bread with his network brethren.

Bloomberg: If you are going to star in the ultimate DC insider show, then you have to show at the Correspondents Dinner: House Of Cards stars Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright as well as Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos have spots here.

Time: Last year, Lincoln’s Daniel Day-Lewis came as a guest of the Huffington Post and Steven Spielberg came as a guest of Time. Day-Lewis isn’t coming this year, and it is unclear whether Spielberg will make an encore appearance. But DreamWorks CEO and co-chair Stacey Snider is coming.

[PHOTOS] The 2013 Preview of the Kennedy Center Opera Ball

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Washington National Opera Board Chairman Connie Milstein gathered opera for the kickoff of the 2013 Opera Ball held Sunday night at The Jefferson Hotel. The “Music of the Night” Party, which was providing a preview for the Kennedy Center and Washington National Opera’s 2013 Opera Ball, focused on the food and entertainment for this season’s performances.

Woven throughout the program were selections of “Phantom Of the Opera” from barritone Norm Lewis,star of “Scandal” and Broadway star of Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess,” performed three selections from “Phantom of the Opera” to a packed room of diners and Washington cultural society. Other performances included selections by Soprano Shantelle Przybylo from “La Bohéme,” “Rigoletto” from Yuri Gorodetski, “Edgar” from Javier Arrey and ending on “Music of the Night” with Norm Lewis reprising “The Phantom.” The guests for the affair ranged from ambassador to Washingtonian essentials like Jeremy Bernard, Kathleen Seibelius, Chairman of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees David Rubenstein, Ellen Tauscher, Grace Bender, Melissa Moss, Jonathan Silver and Bob and Ellen Bennett.

This year’s ball is a partnership between the Italian consulate, thanks to Ambassador Claudio Bisogniero and Mrs. Bisogniero, featuring a black-tie and commemorate the 200th birthday of opera composer Giuseppe Verdi and “The Year of Italian Culture.” The Opera Ball will end with a special performance from the Washington National Opera’s Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program when it occurs on April 6th.

New Miss America: Aspiring Politician

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Good-bye Miss Nebraska, Hello Miss America!

Teresa Scanlan made history Saturday night in what was an evening full of firsts in the Miss America Pageant’s 90 years. At the age of 17, Scanlan is the youngest (since they enacted age limits in 1938) and the first from the Cornhusker state of Nebraska to win the crown. As Miss America 2011, Scanlan will travel approximately 20,000 miles each month as the National Goodwill Ambassador for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and to promote her platform of Eating Disorders: A Generation at Risk. She was inspired to take up the cause by a friend who is struggling with bulimia.

Scanlan, who turns 18 next month, is deferring her enrollment at Patrick Henry College in Virginia. But her aspirations to study law and become a politician are stronger than ever. As she told the Associated Press, Scanlan is going into politics so she can “stand up for what’s right, stand up for integrity and honesty.

“At this point, attorneys and politicians are looked down on and have terrible reputations for being greedy and power hungry and I really think it’s important for people who have their heart and mind in the right place get into those powerful positions,” she said.

The recent high school grad beat out 52 other young women for the ultimate prize at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, taking home a $50,000 scholarship sponsored by Artistry exclusively by Amway to continue her education.

First runner-up honors went to Miss Arkansas Alyse Eady whose talent performance was Vocal-Ventriloquism to “I want to be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart.” Eady earned a $25,000 scholarship while Miss Hawaii Jalee Fuselier was awarded $20,000 as second runner-up.

America had their say in another pageant first by voting online and via text message for their favorite contestants in the days leading up to the pageant. Miss New York Claire Buffie and Miss Delaware Kayla Martell won ABC’s America’s choice, both making headlines for the causes they represent. Buffie was the first contestant to ever run on a gay rights platform, and Martell hopes to raise awareness about alopecia areata, a disease that caused her to start losing her hair at the age of 13.

The Miss America Organization is the world’s largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women, making more than $45 million available last year alone. Want to see who won over the judges? Here’s Teresa Scanlan in her first press conference as Miss America 2011:

Check out the story in The Washington Post and watch her talk about her plans to run for President in 2028.

Miss America 2011 To Be Crowned On Saturday

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Caressa Cameron is crowned Miss America 2010. Photo courtesy MAO.

They’ve got smarts, talent, compassion, and a whole lot of gumption to be able to walk across the national stage in front of millions of viewers while balancing a tiara on their heads. But we expect nothing less from a future Miss America!

Over 12,000 young women made their way through local and state pageants this past year, and 53 three of them are about to face the final hurrah! This Saturday, the Miss America pageant returns to network television after five years on cable. This will be an historic night on ABC as 2011 marks the pageant’s 90th Anniversary.

For the first time in pageant history, Americans had a say in who they’d like to see in the finals by voting online and via text message. This week the contestants have been competing in preliminary contests and by Saturday evening, the field will have been narrowed to 15 finalists.

Broadcast from Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, the pageant has become a showcase for what can be achieved by promoting education and encouraging hard work. The Miss American Organization made more than $45 million in cash and scholarship assistance available to young women last year alone.

The Miss America Board of Directors is committed to preserving this tradition of scholastic achievement and added Regina Hopper, President and CEO of America’s Natural Gas Alliance and Miss Arkansas 1983, as its newest member in August to work for this cause.

But any Miss America is smart enough to know that it can’t be all about the books and that a sense of humor is an absolute necessity – especially being able to laugh at yourself. Here are a few takes from late night comedians, including ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update, and CBS’ David Letterman with the “Top 10 Signs You’re Not Going to Win The Miss America Pageant.”

So, tune in to ABC this Saturday at 9pm EST to see who is crowned Miss America 2011 – until then there is plenty of action going on at www.facebook.com/MissAmericaOrganization where you can watch the preliminary competitions which wrapped last night, as well as get other behind-the scenes scoops.

MSNBC Beats CNN in Primetime

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CNN may be celebrating its 30th anniversary, but that’s about all they have to be happy about these days.

According to the latest Nielsen Media Research, MSNBC beat CNN in primetime in the first half of 2010 among both total viewers and in the key adult demographic. MSNBC also beat CNN in primetime for second quarter of 2010. Year to date, MSNBC is on track to beat CNN for the second year in a row among Adults 25-54 and for the first time ever among total viewers.

MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” is pacing to beat CNN for the year for the first time since 2000 in its time period. Meanwhile, CNN’s “Larry King Live” and “Campbell Brown” had their worst quarters ever among both Adults 25-54 and total viewers. This was CNN’s worst performance in primetime in nine years, since 2Q 2001.

CNN isn’t the only one losing viewers these days. Turns out all three major broadcast network evening news programs were down in 2Q 2010 compared to the same period last year.

Miss America Returns to Network TV

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Miss America 2010 Caressa Cameron with DC influentials at Cafe Milano.


Just in time for its 90th anniversary, the Miss America pageant has signed a deal to get back on network TV. Next year’s competition will air live on ABC on January 15, 2011.

The three-year agreement with ABC comes after the pageant’s nearly six-year absence from network TV due to record low ratings. Since 2004, the pageant had been aired on cable channels CMT and TLC.

Though happy with the deal, Sam Haskell, chairman of the Miss America Organization, declined to discuss the specifics.

“It’s a wonderful deal,” Haskell said to the Associated Press. “It’s much better than any deal we’ve had in the last five years.”

In light of the recent spat between Miss America and Miss USA, Haskell says that this deal will reposition the pageant to separate itself from its competitor, which is owned in a joint venture between Donald Trump and NBC.

“No little girl walks around saying, ‘I want to be Miss USA when I grow up.’ She says, ‘I want to be Miss America,'” said Haskell.

Read more about the agreement in The Washington Post.