The White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) announced Saturday it would exclude comedian Amber Ruffin from performing at its annual dinner on April 26 to avoid focusing “on the politics of division.”
“[T]he WHCA board has unanimously decided we are no longer featuring a comedic performance this year,” WHCA president Eugene Daniels announced in an email to the White House press corps.
WHCA President Eugene Daniels notifies the press corps today that this year’s dinner will no longer feature anti-Trump comedian Amber Ruffin. @DailyCaller https://t.co/O0qZ0eqHMx pic.twitter.com/LNbZ0lq3Sl
— Reagan Reese (@reaganreese_) March 29, 2025
“At this consequential moment for journalism, I want to ensure that 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.
While the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner bills itself as non-partisan, Ruffin has a history of being an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump. The event itself aims to raise funds for the Association’s work, journalism scholarships and educating the public about the First Amendment and a free press.
“I don’t know that anyone’s looking forward to being in the same room as him,” Ruffin said during a Feb. 5, 2025 exchange with CNN’s Jake Tapper. She also stated she’d make use of any anti-Trump sentiments during her set. (RELATED: Comedian Amber Ruffin Reveals She Will Go Full Liberal Hack At WHCA Dinner, Doesn’t Want Trump To Attend)
After Trump’s defeat of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, Ruffin, in an interview with Advocate, an LGBT-interest magazine, weeks ahead of the 2024 election, called him a “gross president.”
“They have to do their best to find flaws in what Kamala is saying and doing, but this man gets to be a toddler with his pants pulled down doing whatever he wants, but she has to be perfect,” Ruffin echoed in an October 2024 appearance on CNN’s “Have I Got News For You” television show.
President Trump did not attend the Association’s high-profile dinners during his first term and is not expected to attend in 2025. Furthermore, current White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt “will not be in attendance,” she told former White House press secretary Sean Spicer during his March 14 podcast.
The move to drop Ruffin reverses Daniels’s Feb. 4 announcement naming the comedian as the dinner’s headliner.
“When I began to think about what entertainer would be a perfect fit for the dinner this year, Amber was immediately at the top of my list,” Daniels told The Daily Caller in February.
Ruffin “has the ability to walk the line between blistering commentary and humor all while provoking her audience to think about the important issues of the day,” Daniels added at the time.
The dinner has previously been used as a stage for featured politicians to poke fun at opponents through both satirical remarks and the help of comedians. (RELATED: The White House Correspondents’ Dinner Was A Monument To Corporate Press’ Self-Importance And Left-Wing Cronyism)
President Joe Biden, criticized for making the 2024 dinner into a political rally, took the stage alongside “Saturday Night Live” comedian Colin Jost. Jost questioned why President Trump was close to President Biden in national polling, despite Biden’s “strong economy.”
U.S. President Joe Biden reacts to a joke by comedian and host Colin Jost during the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in Washington, U.S., April 27, 2024. REUTERS/Tom Brenner
Criticism was also levied at Biden and other attendees of the dinner by anti-Israel protesters yelling, “Shame on you,” while calling President Biden “genocide Joe” for his position during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
“The White House Correspondents’ Dinner was really bad. Colin Jost BOMBED, and Crooked Joe was an absolute disaster! Doesn’t get much worse than this!” Trump wrote April 28 on Truth Social following the 2024 dinner.