Comedian Amber Ruffin will no longer serve as headline performer at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, the White House Correspondents’ Association announced on Saturday.
“The WHCA board has unanimously decided we are no longer featuring a comedic performance this year,” said Eugene Daniels, WHCA president, in a statement to association members.
He continued, “At this consequential moment for journalism, I want to ensure the focus is not on the politics of division but entirely on awarding our colleagues for their outstanding work and providing scholarship and mentorship to the next generation of journalists.”
The move by WHCA comes as the White House Correspondents’ Association’s relationship with the Trump White House remains fraught. President Donald Trump and his staff have repeatedly disparaged the press over outlets’ coverage of the administration. The Trump White House has also taken unprecedented steps to circumvent the independence and access of journalists covering the White House, including taking control of the president’s press pool for the first time in the association’s 111-year history.
The Trump White House has also blocked the Associated Press from covering official White House events over a dispute over how the outlet reports on the Gulf of Mexico, which President Trump has renamed the “Gulf of America.” The AP, which is backed by the WHCA, is currently fighting the move in court, arguing it is a violation of the First Amendment right to a free press.
The WHCA dinner is a decades-long tradition that has brought together journalists covering the White House, sitting presidents, members of their administration and guests. Typically a comedian is selected to deliver roast-styled remarks, taking political digs at politicians and members of the press. The tradition came to a halt during President Trump’s first term, as he declined to attend, but picked back up during President Joe Biden’s one term in office. It is unclear if he or any member of his administration will attend this year’s dinner on April 26.
Nonetheless, the WHCA said it is looking forward to the dinner’s “celebration of the foundational American value of a free and independent press.”
Ruffin has not yet publicly commented on no longer serving as a performer. During an interview with The Daily Beast, Ruffin shared that she was told to ensure that her jokes were “equal” in terms of targeting the political right and left. However, the comedian made clear she would do no such thing.
“I was like, ‘there’s no way I’m going to be freaking doing that…Under no circumstances,” she said.
