Correspondents from the White House announced on Saturday that its annual dinner will not include comedian Amber Ruffin, almost two months after it announced her as a choice.
In fact, this year’s show has no comedic performances at all.
Eugene Daniels, President of WHCA, told members that the association’s board unanimously voted to remove the comic performance of the event on April 26.
Amber Ruffin participates in Netflix’s “Survival of the tickest” season 2 premiere at DGA Theater, March 26, 2025, in New York.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
“At this Journalism Collaboration, I want to ensure that the focus is not on the division’s policy, but entirely on awarding our colleagues for their excellent work and giving a scholarship and mentorship to the next generation of journalists,” he said.
Daniels, who did not mention Ruffin by name in the memo, said the board is planning a “resumption of our dinner,” and added that he will reveal more details later.
Ruffin, who hosted a talk show at Peacock and has been a longtime author and artist for “Late Night With Seth Meyers,” did not immediately comment on the cancellation of her performance, which WHCA had announced in February. She has long paralyzed and pierced fun in Washington policy, especially the Trump administration, under her routines.
Amber Ruffin participates in Netflix’s “Survival of the tickest” season 2 premiere at DGA Theater on March 26, 2025 in New York.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Ruffin talked about his preparation for the event in a podcast this week with Daily Beast.
“News happens on such a freaking clip that how should we hit this moving goal?” she said.
“I love to laugh about things when they get terrible,” she added. “You can’t help but laugh.”
President Donald Trump speaks at a reception celebrating the woman’s history month in the eastern space of the White House, March 26, 2025, in Washington.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
When WHCA announced Ruffin as this year’s dinner feature, Daniels said in a statement that her “unique talents are the ideal fit for this current political and cultural climate.”
“Her perspective will fit right into the dinner’s tradition of honoring the freedom of the press while roasting the most powerful people on all sides of the time and the journalists covering them,” Daniels added.
The annual charity dinner has taken place since 1921 and contains sub -holders who are fun at current events and politics, often with jokes about the political players present.
President Donald Trump has never attended dinner while he was in office, and he and his staff have often criticized WHCA and former comedians who hosted the dinner ..
The White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during the daily briefing of the Brady Briefing Room in the White House in Washington, March 26. 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Although Trump has not indicated whether he is attending this year’s dinner, the White House press secretary said Karoline Leavitt at “The Sean Spicer Show” two weeks ago that she will not attend.
“This is a group of journalists who have covered the White House for decades,” she said. “They started this organization because the presidents at the time did not do enough press conferences. I don’t think we have that problem anymore under this president.”
ABC News’ Karen Travers contributed to this report.
