The White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) announced that it canceled its comedian headliner Amber Ruffin ahead of its annual dinner next month.
In a memo sent out to colleagues, WHCA president Eugene Daniels wrote that the board unanimously decided to drop a comedic performance for the dinner as part of a “re-envisioning” of the tradition.
“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,” Daniels wrote.
The decision came one day after White House Deputy Chief of staff for communications and personnel Taylor Budowich criticized the WHCA for recruiting Ruffin.
Budowich also mocked the decision to pull Ruffin.
“No accountability at @WHCA, just a cop-out statement—pathetic! Many WHCA members are privately pointing the finger at Eugene for making the unilateral decision to recruit and sign this garbage, hate-filled comedian. Yet, they are all turning a blind eye to it publicly. It’s an indictment on how broken and useless this organization has become… so sad that such a storied and consequential group has been so quickly driven into irrelevancy. Oh well. Good riddance!” Budowich wrote.
President Donald Trump has not yet indicated whether he will attend the dinner on April 26. Throughout his entire first term, he didn’t attend the event.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced earlier this month that she would not attend the dinner.
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
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