Lifestyle
White House Correspondents’ Dinner Parties Go on Without Trump or Big Celebrities
For those taking part in the Washington social whirl leading up to the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, it is helpful to know a few basic facts: There will be ample canapés and cocktails, and the occasional broken glass, at the parties before the big night; there will be plenty of television anchors, reporters and talking heads holding forth on current events; and, inevitably, you will run into Bill Nye, the science guy.
Mr. Nye, a Georgetown resident and affable advocate for all things scientific, was a fixture at the festivities in advance of Saturday’s dinner, which has been buffeted by a series of norm-breaking changes.
First came the unsurprising news that the Trump administration, including the president himself, had no intention of participating in the event. Then an appearance by the scheduled host, the comedian Amber Ruffin, was canceled after the association said it wanted to focus not on “the politics of division,” but on celebrating journalism — which is nice, but sounds like a lot less laughs.
But something funny happened on the way to the dinner being a bore: Not only did the parties continue in Washington, but they proliferated into a morning-to-midnight array of breakfasts, brunches and boozy bashes.
Tammy Haddad, a media consultant who helped host two events, noted there were more parties this year, adding that “politics have taken over media” as new outlets have gained on more established publications.
“There’s all these opportunities for regular people, people that have a political opinion, to elevate themselves,” Ms. Haddad said. “So that’s why they’re here.”
Actual celebrities were hard to find, a marked change from last year, when Colin Jost, of “Saturday Night Live,” headlined the dinner and took part in the festivities with his wife, Scarlett Johansson. The closest brush with stop-in-the-street fame came on Friday, when Jason Isaacs, a cast member of “The White Lotus,” arrived at a party hosted by United Talent Agency.
Mr. Isaacs said he was in Washington as part of a group of actors lobbying for the continued funding of the National Endowment for the Arts. “No one quite knows what their fate is going to be,” he said.
It was a line that might have applied to “The White Lotus” — or the Washington press corps, which has been at odds with the White House during President Trump’s first hundred days in office.
Bill de Blasio, the former mayor of New York City, struck a hopeful note for his fellow Democrats during a gala hosted by Semafor, a three-year-old media start-up, at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery.
“I think this actually is going to be another one of those milestone moments, these next few days, of people getting their mojo back,” Mr. de Blasio said.
He was standing with his girlfriend, Nomiki Konst, an activist and political commentator. “I think people are looking for alliances,” she said.
With a guest list of 1,000 people, the Semafor event was pegged to its World Economy Summit, a gathering of business leaders. The party was also dappled with CNN anchors like Wolf Blitzer and Dana Bash. And Mr. Nye, who was snapping selfies with fans.
Ben Smith, Semafor’s editor in chief, described the bewilderment of many attendees in a much-changed Washington. “This is mostly just full of people who are scanning the room for someone who can tell them what is going on,” he said.
Mr. Nye, wearing the Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to him by President Joseph R. Biden Jr., decried the possibility of NASA budget cuts. “It’s an extraordinary time to be living,” he said.
Like movie stars, administration officials were in short supply, though the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, participated in an interview at an event sponsored by Axios. Ms. Leavitt defended the administration’s handling of the news media and criticized the board of the White House Correspondents’ Association, saying that it “should not dictate who gets to go into the Oval Office and who gets to ride on Air Force One.”
At a Friday happy hour hosted by Crooked Media at Café Riggs, a tourist wearing a MAGA cap signed by the president stumbled to the front door, before turning back. Inside, the “Pod Save America” crew sipped cocktails and considered their past lives writing presidential remarks for the annual dinner.
Jon Lovett, a former speechwriter for President Barack Obama, said that part of the weekend was “not letting Trump define us as being embittered or divided or sour or imperious or meanspirited or scoldy.”
“We have to be joyful and fun and entertaining and unafraid,” he said.
At a Thursday night party at Fish Shop, a soon-to-open restaurant, another young media company, Status, drew a crowd of reporters. Oliver Darcy, one of its founders, said that no Trump officials had been invited. “We want to have people here who like the First Amendment,” he said.
As the guests munched on crab puffs and fried oysters, Erik Wemple, the media critic for The Washington Post, called the room full of reporters — drinks in hand — “a target-rich environment.”
“People come and gossip,” Mr. Wemple said, calling the scene “extremely clubby” and adding, “If you’re a media critic and you don’t make an effort to come out to a couple of these events, you are really not doing your job.”
Another Thursday gathering — at Vital Voices, which encourages female leadership — honored the International Women’s Media Foundation, which supports female journalists. In a top-floor aerie, Jen Psaki, the MSNBC host and former Biden press secretary, lamented Mr. Trump’s decision not to participate in the dinner.
“I think it’s important to show you can take a joke,” she said. “And honor people making fun of you, and people who have criticized you.”
At an event on Friday at the City Tavern, Roger Lynch, the chief executive of Condé Nast, which sponsored the party with Creative Artists Agency, noticed a headline on his phone concerning an effort by Attorney General Pam Bondi to strip away press protections. (Mr. Nye was in attendance here, too.)
Mr. Lynch was asked whether it was a good time to be partying.
“It’s absolutely the right time,” he said. “Because I think it’s really important that our journalists who cover D.C. feel supported and protected.”
At the U.T.A. party, a late-night affair at Osteria Mozza, a cavernous Italian restaurant in Georgetown, attendees of many other parties assembled all over again, challenging the chitchat skills of even those paid to talk.
The CNN host Jake Tapper described an “unsettled and unsettling time in journalism,” noting the resignation of Bill Owens, the executive producer of “60 Minutes,” over disputes regarding journalistic independence.
“I’m not really sure what there is to celebrate,” Mr. Tapper said.
Mr. Isaacs arrived with a fellow actor, Michael Chiklis. A few elected officials trickled in, including Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, who noted that most politicians aren’t always happy with the way they are covered.
“But you still have to report,” she said. “And you have to respect the rights of the press to report.”
Naturally, Mr. Nye was there, too.
Phil Pritchard of the Hockey Hall of Fame works the 2019 NHL Awards at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on June 19, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
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This week’s show was recorded in Chicago with host Peter Sagal, judge and guest scorekeeper Alzo Slade, Not My Job guest Phil Pritchard and panelists Alonzo Bodden, Adam Burke, and Dulcé Sloan. Click the audio link above to hear the whole show.
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The Don Vs The Poppa; World’s Worst Doctor; Should We Eat That?
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Our panelists tell three stories about someone missing a huge opportunity in the news, only one of which is true.
Not My Job: Phil Pritchard, the NHL’s Keeper of the Stanley Cup, answers three questions about the other NHL, National Historic Landmarks
Peter talks to Phil Pritchard, the NHL’s Keeper of the Stanley Cup. Phil plays our game called, “Let’s Go Visit The NHL” Three questions about National Historic Landmarks.
Panel Questions
The Trump Dump and Air Traffic Control Becomes Animal Control
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Alzo Slade reads three news-related limericks: Spice Up Your Spring Cleaning; A Fizzy Meaty Drink; The Right Way to Eat Peeps.
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Paul W. Downs can’t help it that even on the weekends, his life intersects with “Hacks,” the HBO comedy he co-created and co-showruns with his wife, Lucia Aniello, and their friend Jen Statsky. (He also appears on the show as Jimmy LuSaque Jr., the besieged manager of its two stars, played by Emmy winners Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder.) The fifth and final season of “Hacks” premiered last week, but on Downs’ days off, he often finds himself at its previous filming locations or hanging out with cast members who have become like family.
In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
Downs moved to Los Angeles in 2011, but soon after, he and Aniello were hired to write (and for him to act) on the über-New York show “Broad City,” keeping them away from the West Coast for years. Now the couple live in Los Feliz, which they enjoy with their young son.
“I love Los Feliz because it’s a real neighborhood with restaurants and bars, but also feels close to nature with Griffith Park,” Downs says. “Also it’s very central to my Eastside friends and Westside agents.”
And if he had to live at a local mall, like the character Ava Daniels did in the third season of “Hacks,” which would he choose?
“It would be the Americana, obviously.”
Here’s how he’d spend a perfect day in L.A.
10 a.m.: A late rise and a li’l barista
I’m sleeping in if I can, which I can’t because I have a toddler, but let’s say I can sleep ’til 10. That would be insane.
Then I’m making coffee at home. I’m making it with my 4-year-old because he likes to make my coffee now. He always wanted to help, now he really wants to do it on his own. I’m still there to supervise, but he does do a lot of it.
I do batch brew. I’m doing Verve Coffee that I’m grinding there, and then I’m brewing four cups because I need my coffee. I had a Moccamaster for a long time, but I recently got a Simply Good Coffee. There’s no plastic — it’s all glass and metal.
11 a.m.: Chocolate croissants for everyone
We’re driving to Pasadena and we’re going to [Artisanal Goods by] CAR, which is the place to get the best chocolate croissant, I think, in the world. I don’t just think in L.A., I think they’re better than Paris. I’m going there with my wife and my kid and I’m having another coffee and some pastry. We’re ordering three [chocolate croissants]. We’re not doubling up.
11:45 a.m.: The family business
We’re driving to Fair Oaks in Pasadena. There’s a place called T.L. Gurley. We shot “Hacks” there, actually. Not only in Season 1, but also full circle in Season 5. We’re going to shmay around and look at antiques. My kid is going to want to play a vintage pinball machine. We’re going to find a little piece of art for the house or what have you. It’s not necessarily that I’m on the hunt. It’s to pass the time and to have some fun. If I could do anything and have a leisurely day and take my mind off work, that’s what I’m doing.
People love to interact with my kid when he’s there. We’re really training him to appraise things at a young age. My parents are part-time dealers of antiques. My grandmother bought and sold antiques. It’s kind of a family business.
1:30 pm.: Baguettes and books
We’re driving to Larchmont and we’re getting a sandwich at Larchmont Village Wine, Spirits & Cheese. I’m doing prosciutto-mozzarella-basil on a baguette.
Then we’re going to Chevalier’s Books. What’s sad is that I’m often not looking for leisure material. I’m looking for something that I’m interested in learning more about or writing about, or that they’re turning into a show I want to audition for. But we’re also doing Little Golden Books for my son. He’s obsessed. We’re not huge on screen time, so we really encourage the book-buying.
2:30 p.m.: Cast pool party
We’re having some family fun in the pool and we’re doing that until evening. We invite people over all the time. My sister-in-law is a New Yorker, but she actually wrote last season on “The Rooster” and she’s often writing on shows in L.A., so she’s often here and she’ll have a couple friends come over. I know this sounds like a piece of PR or something, but we’ll really literally have Hannah [Einbinder] and maybe Mark Indelicato from “Hacks” come over to swim. Jen, our co-creator of “Hacks,” will come over.
6:00 p.m.: Family dinner
Sometimes we’ll order Grá to the house, which is a pizza place in Echo Park — excellent sourdough crust pizza. But if we don’t do that, an ideal evening is an early dinner at All Time on Hillhurst in Los Feliz. We’re ordering the ceviche and my son is having all of it and not sharing with anybody at the table.
8:45 p.m.: A thrilling ending to the day
After putting my kid to bed, my wife and I, in an ideal world (full disclosure: we haven’t done this in two years), we’ll watch something together that we’ve been meaning to watch. We have a long list of movies and we either want to revisit or that we haven’t seen that we need to watch.
We don’t watch a lot of comedies. It’s a dream to watch a “Black Bag” or a little espionage thriller. We really like that because it’s so different than the stuff that we’re working on in the day.
Often the things we watch are things that we admire. We like deconstructing it as fans of film and television. We do like talking about the making of it, but it’s less of a critique and more of a listing of the things we appreciated about it.
10:30 p.m.: No work tomorrow
And then it’s lovemaking ’til morning on a perfect Sunday. If it’s a perfect Sunday, there’s also a Monday that’s off.
Jay (not pictured) found himself alone and hopeless in a jail cell when a fellow inmate’s unexpected words of comfort changed his life.
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When Jay was 22 years old, he was a self-described loner. In this story, he is being identified by his nickname to allow himself to speak candidly about the following experience and his mental health. He says the few people he did hang out with at the time had questionable morals.
”I chose my friends poorly, and your friends have a tendency to rub off on you. And so I started making poor decisions,” Jay said.
One evening, when he and his friends were out drinking, someone suggested they should try to break into the chemistry building on his college campus. Most of the group shrugged the suggestion off, deeming it impossible, but Jay was convinced he could pull it off.
“The next night I made a plan of how to do it, and I did it,” Jay remembered. “And I didn’t get caught doing it, [but] I got caught afterwards.”
At around 1 that morning, Jay was placed in the county detention center. Sitting alone in his cell, reality began to sink in.
“I pretty much thought that my life as I knew it was going to be over, and I had decided that the world would be better off without me in it.”
Jay made a plan to end his life. As he prepared himself, he began to cry.
“But just in that moment when I was ready to do it, I heard a voice coming from the top left corner of my cell, from a little vent. And someone called out to me and said, ‘Hey, is this your first time?’”
The man who called out was an inmate in the cell next door.
“I collected myself a little bit, and I said, ‘Yeah.’ And he said, ‘Can I pray for you?’”
Jay had grown up religious, but had stopped going to church years before. In that moment, though, he knew he needed support. He said yes, and listened as the man began to pray.
“I wish I could tell you that I remember the [exact] words that he said to me, but what I remember is that his words landed with me, and instead of wanting my life to be over, suddenly I saw hope,” Jay said.
The interaction happened nearly ten years ago, but it was a pivotal moment in Jay’s life, and one he thinks about all the time.
“[Now], I have a good job. I have a girlfriend who loves me. I have a life. But I have a life because somebody who was in the same situation I was in had the courage to talk to a fellow inmate and be kind.”
Jay says that he wishes he could meet that man again and express his appreciation.
“[I would] shake that guy’s hand, give him a hug, and tell him what his small gesture meant for me, how he changed the course of my life.”
My Unsung Hero is also a podcast — new episodes are released every Tuesday. To share the story of your unsung hero with the Hidden Brain team, record a voice memo on your phone and send it to myunsunghero@hiddenbrain.org.
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