Calendar note, per the Washington Post:
Comedian Samantha Bee on Monday announced a splashy alternative to the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, the annual schmoozefest that brings together journalists and the people they cover, along with an assortment of advertisers and random Hollywood types.
Bee touted her event, which will be held at the Willard hotel on April 29 (same as the long-running black-tie dinner), as a draw for “journalists and non-irritating celebrities from around the world” and promised to donate proceeds to the Committee to Protect Journalists, an organization that supports press freedom around the world, according to a news release from TBS, the network that airs Bee’s newsy satire show “Full Frontal.”
The comedian elaborated on the inspiration for the “Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner” in an interview with the New York Times, explaining that her event wasn’t intended to “comment on or compete with” the existing press dinner, where a comedian traditionally pokes fun at the president. Instead, it will be a forum for her and other funny folk to make all the Trump jokes they want, without pulling punches, the implication being that whoever emcees the WHCA dinner might be tempted to lob softballs at Trump, or even that the event might be cancelled. “We just want to be there in case something happens — or doesn’t happen — and ensure that we get to properly roast the president,” she told the Times…
She also said she didn’t intend to undermine the WHCA. After Trump was elected, she wondered if the annual dinner would happen or what form it would take, and that inspired to just throw her own. “We thought, ‘it will be cancelled or it will the most sinister, awkward thing you’ve ever seen,’” she said…
Vanity Fair says the WHDC is slated to go on, with or without an appearance from the President-Asterisk. But Deadline says they’re having a little trouble lining up a host for “the annual presidential roast/Hollywood petting zoo”, right at the moment… guess the Secret Service won’t let Jimmy Fallon pet the H(airpiece)OTUS any more…
Look for an ‘unpresidented’ run on antacids and acid-blockers as the Media Village Courtiers start to worry — show up at the WHCA, and risk being mocked? Or sneak into the popular new girl’s event, and risk the wrath of Jabba the Bannon and his froggy little online minions?