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

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Kendall Jenner and the Washington Wizards’ John Wall Headline USA Today Table at White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner

April 25, 2016 By WHC Insider

Rosario Dawson, Willie Geist, CURE donor David Haddad and Elle Macpherson at the 2012 White House Correspondents' Garden Brunch

Rosario Dawson, Willie Geist, CURE donor David Haddad and Elle Macpherson at the 2012 White House Correspondents’ Garden Brunch

It’s six days until 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.

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. USA Today is right at the top with their influential mix of actors, models and athletes.

USA TODAY:

John Wall, athlete, Washington Wizards

Kendall Jenner, model

Miles Teller, actor, “Divergent”

Wendi Mclendon-Covey, actress/comedian, “The Goldbergs”

Rosario Dawson, actress, “Daredevil”

Neve Campbell, actress, “House of Cards”

Filed Under: 2016 WHCD, Uncategorized, WHCD History Tagged With: John Wall, Kendall Jenner, Larry Wilmore, Rosario Dawson, WHCA Dinner, White House Corespondents' Garden Brunch

PBS Ombudsman Condemns WHCA Dinner

May 17, 2010 By WHC Insider

Has the celebrity aspect of the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner gone too far?

Michael Getler, the independent internal critic, otherwise known as the “ombudsman” for the Public Broadcasting System, believes that it has. In a recent Ombudsman Column, Getler calls the dinner an “embarrassment, just one more brick on the pile that buries confidence in the U.S. press.” The dinner happened to take place on the same weekend that marked the passing of two long-time PBS public affairs shows: Bill Moyers Journal and NOW with host David Brancaccio.

Getler called it “Journalism’s Passing Parade” – do you agree? Share your comments.

Filed Under: WHCA Dinner Tagged With: Bill Moyers, David Brancaccio, Michael Getler, NOW, PBS, WHCA, WHCA Dinner, White House Correspondents Dinner

Presenting the First Annual WHC Weekend Insider Awards

May 7, 2010 By WHC Insider

WHC Insider presents the first annual WHC Weekend Insider Awards to highlight the great deeds of the famous and infamous who came to Washington to party, schmooze, and most importantly – be seen – at the events surrounding the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.

It’s the biggest weekend in Washington, second only perhaps to Inauguration, which you clever kids know from civics class only comes once every four years (and without as many brunches).

So, here it is, the best of the fetes, as we scour the tables at the Washington Hilton to find someone not represented by Bob Barnett.

BEST OUTREACH BY A GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL

Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. No one walks in LA, but apparently Hollywood hottie and “Entourage” star Adrian Grenier was making his way on foot to the Bloomberg/Vanity Fair after party when he was spotted by none other than Rahm Emanuel. The White House Chief of Staff’s brother, Ari Emanuel, was the inspiration for the high-strung, heavyweight agent portrayed by Jeremy Piven on the hit HBO show “Entourage.”

Rahm immediately had his motorcade pull over and Adrian hopped in. Now that’s taking it to the people!

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Awards Tagged With: Adrian Grenier, Anna Kendrick, Bloomberg, Bob Barnett, Boone Pickens, Bradley Cooper, Candice Crawford, Carol Blue, Carolyn Weyforth, Chace Crawford, Christopher Hitchens, Dan Pfeiffer, Elena Allbritton, Greta Van Susteren, Joe Mazzello, John Coale, Jon Meacham, Jonas Brothers, Katie Couric, Kim Kardashian, Matthew Morrison, Morgan Freeman, Politico, Rahm Emanuel, Robert Allbritton, Rosario Dawson, Sara Olson, Tony Romo, Vanity Fair, WHCA, WHCA Dinner, White House Correspondents Association Dinner

WHC Group Brunches With McLaughlin

May 6, 2010 By WHC Insider

John McLaughlin began the post-WHCA Dinner Sunday brunch tradition, and this year was no different with the Thomson Reuters McLaughlin brunch.

Making a grand return to the rooftop of the Hay-Adams Hotel, with one of the most beautiful views of the White House, McLaughlin gathered notables like T. Boone Pickens, Dennis Quaid, and Wolf Blitzer. Georgette Mosbacher has been attending since 1988.

Previous brunch guests have included Vice President Dick Cheney, Tom Selleck, and Robert De Niro (while prepping for his role in “Wag the Dog”).

Boone and Madeleine Pickens with John McLaughlin

Boone and Madeleine Pickens with John McLaughlin

Eleanor Clift

Dennis Quaid and Rebecca Cooper

Filed Under: Washington Events Tagged With: Boone Pickens, Dennis Quaid, Dick Cheney, Georgette Mosbacher, Hay-Adams, John McLaughlin, McLaughlin Brunch, Robert De Niro, Thomson Reuters, Tom Selleck, WHCA Dinner

Makeover at the Mayflower Renaissance

May 4, 2010 By WHC Insider

The 85-year old Mayflower Renaissance DC hotel has had it’s share of notable guests (remember Monica Lewinsky and Eliot Spitzer?). The list got longer Saturday night with more glamorous names like Ewan McGregor, Ashley Judd, Dennis Quaid, Tory Burch, Kim Kardashian, and Bobby Flay.

The Grand Ballroom was instantly transformed for the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner after party hosted by Capitol File magazine, Renaissance Hotels and Bing. Here’s a video provided by the Mayflower Renaissance DC about the makeover.

Filed Under: Event Coverage, Late Night Tagged With: Ashley Judd, Bing, Bobby Flay, Capitol File, Dennis Quaid, Eliot Spitzer, Ewan McGregor, Kim Kardashian, Mayflower, Monica Lewinsky, Renaissance Hotels, Tory Burch, WHCA Dinner

Wendy Williams Brunched But Didn't Dine

May 3, 2010 By WHC Insider

WHC Garden Brunch honorary co-chair & Founder of CURE Epilepsy
Susan Axelrod with Wendy Williams
CREDIT: WHC Insider

Wendy Williams walked into the 2010 White House Correspondents’ Garden Brunch with a smile on her face. If the talk show host were harboring any bad feelings about whom she would potentially be dining with that evening, it sure didn’t show.

Williams was escorted to the brunch by American Urban Radio Network‘s White House correspondent April Ryan and was to be seated at the network’s table at the annual WHCA Dinner later that evening. Except Williams didn’t go to the dinner.

According to the NY Daily News, the American Urban Radio Network also invited former “Celebrity Apprentice” contestant Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth to the dinner without realizing the two women have had an ongoing tiff since 2008.

Welcome to Washington, Wendy!

Filed Under: WHCD 2010 Guests Tagged With: April Ryan, Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth, Wendy Williams, WHC Garden Brunch, WHCA Dinner

WHCA Dinner: Friendly Environment, Environmentally Friendly

April 30, 2010 By WHC Insider

The First Lady must be pleased to hear that every effort has been made to use locally produced organic food at Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. However, it’s highly doubtful she’ll recycle one of her fashionable ensembles to wear to the event.

Diana Taylor, Mayor Bloomberg, Secretary Solis at the 2009 WHCD.

Nevertheless, there will be plenty of recycling going on as the WHCA Dinner goes green for the first time in its 96-year history. All thanks to an effort headed up by Ed Chen, the outgoing President of the WHCA and Senior White House Correspondent for Bloomberg News. Chen reached out to former colleague Allen Hershkowitz, senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, to see how the ecological footprint of the event could be reduced.

Hershkowitz and the NRDC, a non-partisan environmental organization, have worked with even larger events before: the Academy Awards, the Grammy Awards, and the Major League Baseball World Series championships, to name a few. Yet, with a room full of top political and business decision makers, as well as Hollywood elites, the WHCA Dinner could potentially trump them all as a showcase for practical, ecologically intelligent practices.

“Can you imagine a better place to get the message out about greening?” asks Hershkowitz. “The cultural resonance of this event is substantial.”

Hershkowitz says every detail was reviewed with an eye towards reducing environment impacts, and there was no detail too small. From printing all programs and tickets to the event on 100 percent post-consumer recycled content paper to renting the Red Carpet to distributing uneaten meals to the Washington D.C. Central Kitchen, every decision had a purpose.

“Hopefully this will be seen and nobody will notice anything different. They’ll learn about the initiative in the program, but hopefully people will have as much fun and be as comfortable,” says Hershkowitz.

The NRDC worked closely with the staff at the Washington Hilton Hotel to coordinate the greening efforts.  If you’re parched and are looking for water, don’t expect to reach for a plastic bottle: filtered water will be served in glassware. Should you sneak your own container in, however, there will be recycling bins provided.

And gentlemen, if you’re so inclined, check out the newly installed waterless urinals in the men’s bathrooms. Hershkowitz says he worked with the Staples Center in Los Angeles to install waterless urinals, and they save seven million gallons of water a year.

“Water scarcity is going to rival sea level,” says Hershkowitz, “we should not be flushing drinking water down the toilet.”

Don’t worry ladies, you’ll be doing your part to save the environment: the bathroom tissue contains a minimum of 20 percent post-consumer recycled content.

The WHCA went a step beyond waste reduction and recycling, and took a look at how to offset the carbon generated by travel and the event itself. They worked with the Bonneville Environmental Foundation to purchase renewable energy carbon offsets generated by the jet used by host Jay Leno to and from California, as well as, the Presidential motorcade.

Pat Nye, Vice President of the Climate Business Group at the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, says “offsetting the energy use for this dinner and related travel equals about the same impacts as offsetting the electricity for one game of the World Series.”

That’s about 62 metric tons of carbon dioxide; about the amount of power used by six average US homes in one year. The renewable energy purchased on behalf of the WHCA is from the Tatanka Wind Farm on the border of North and South Dakota.

Hershkowitz is hopeful the changes will resonate with the several thousand revelers:

“Everybody has to do something to address the ecological problems that we face. We don’t have to wait for a law in Washington to pass before we take action to address global warming. That’s the message of this dinner. We have to all take responsibility. There’s no action too small to be helpful. Every action is helpful.”

There’s still time to set up that carpool.

Filed Under: Correspondents, Washington, Washington Events Tagged With: Allen Hershkowitz, Ed Chen, NRDC, Pat Nye, WHCA Dinner, WHCD

Dishing on WHCA Dinner

April 30, 2010 By WHC Insider

WHC Insider’s Tammy Haddad sat down with ABC News’ David Chalian and Rick Klein on the ABCNews.com show “Top Line” to chat about the evolution of the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner into an all-out weekend event – including the annual brunch she co-hosts on Saturday morning.

In a town where politicians and notable folks tend to avoid the press, it’s one of the few times when the invitation bearing, ticket holding, media is suddenly in demand:
“This is the only time they call us and beg…. This is the only time where everyone has to stand in line together.”

Filed Under: History of Dinner Tagged With: ABC News, David Chalian, Garden Brunch, Rick Klein, Tammy Haddad, WHCA, WHCA Dinner, White House Correspondents Garden Brunch

DC: Party Central

April 30, 2010 By WHC Insider

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and CURE Epilepsy's Susan Axelrod at the 2009 White House Correspondents' Garden Brunch

It’s been called the Nerd Prom and compared to Hollywood’s Oscar extravaganza, but the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner and the parties surrounding it have evolved into their own electrifying entity. Politico takes a behind the scenes look at where the sparks will be flying this weekend.

Filed Under: Washington Events Tagged With: Garden Brunch, Janet Napolitano, Susan Axelrod, WHCA, WHCA Dinner

Favreau Funny Factory

April 30, 2010 By WHC Insider

Jon Favreau, Graydon Carter at the 2009 Bloomberg & Vanity Fair Cocktail Reception
Photo - BILLY FARRELL/PatrickMcMullan.com

President Obama owned the room at the 2009 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner before some 3,000 elites in the Washington Hilton Ballroom. While the President’s charisma and innate comic timing carried him through the night, he did have a little help from his scribes.

Speechwriters Jon Favreau and Jon Lovett led the charge with timely references, including a video where the President welcomes a “Pirate” to the Oval Office (a tip of the feather-topped hat to Bloomberg Media guest Richard Phillips, Captain of the Maersk ship who was captured by Somali pirates in April 2009 and valiantly rescued by US Navy SEALS).

Senior Advisor David Axelrod was one of the top presidential aides who helped come up with the visual joke.

Tom Vietor, Jeff Nussbaum, Jeff Shesol, and a few other outside joke writers helped polish the President’s speech. This year, it will also be a team effort to make sure WHCA Dinner host Jay Leno will not be the only one getting laughs.

No pirates this year, but there’s bound to be a health care joke or two tickling the crowd’s funny bone.

Politico has more on what it takes to make a president funny – on purpose.

Filed Under: WHCD History Tagged With: David Axelrod, Jeff Nussbaum, Jeff Sheshol, Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Richard Phillips, Tom Vietor, WHCA 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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