The White House Correspondents Association announced on Saturday that its annual dinner will not have the comedian Amber Ruffin, almost two months after he announced it as his selection.
In fact, this year’s program will not have any comic action.
Eugene Daniels, president of the WHCA, told the members that the association board voted unanimously to eliminate comic performance for the April 26 event.
Amber Ruffin attends the premiere “Survival of the thickest” of Netflix season 2 at the DGA Theater, on March 26, 2025, in New York.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
“At this time consistent for journalism, I want to make sure that the approach is not in the policy of the division, but completely to grant our colleagues for their outstanding work and provide scholarships and tutoring to the next generation of journalists,” he said.
Daniels, who did not mention Ruffin by his name in the memorandum, said the Board is planning a “re -entry of our dinner”, added that it will reveal more details later.
Ruffin, who organized an interview program in Peacock and has been a writer and interpreter of “Late Night With Seth Meyers”, did not comment on the cancellation of his performance, which the Whca had announced in February. For a long time he has ridiculed and made fun of Washington’s policy, especially in the Trump administration, during his routines.
Amber Ruffin attends the premiere of season 2 of “Survival of the thickest” of Netflix at the 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 The Daily Beast.
“The news is happening in a clip so damn that we are supposed to achieve this goal in motion?” She said.
“I love laughing on things when they become terrible,” he added. “You can’t help laughing.”
President Donald Trump speaks at a reception that celebrates the month of the history of women in the East Room of the White House, on March 26, 2025, in Washington.
Mandel and/AFP
When the Whca announced to Ruffin as this year’s dinner function, Daniels said in a statement that “the unique talents are the ideal adjustment for this current political and cultural climate.”
“His perspective will fit directly with the tradition of the dinner of honoring the freedom of the press while they assume the most powerful people on all sides of the hall and the journalists who cover them,” Daniels added.
The annual charity dinner has taken place since 1921 and presents artists who make fun of current events and politics, often with jokes about the political players who attend.
President Donald Trump has never attended dinner while he was in office, and he and his staff have often criticized the WHCA and the previous comedians who organized dinner.
The White House Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, speaks during the daily information session in the Brady Brady Room of the White House in Washington, on March 26, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Although Trump has not indicated whether he will attend this year’s dinner, the White House Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said in “The Sean Spicer Show” two weeks ago that he will not attend.
“This is a group of journalists who have been covering the White House for decades,” he said. “They began this organization because the presidents were not doing enough press conferences. I no longer think we have that problem under this president.”
Karen Travers of ABC News contributed to this report.
